Chapter 03
Words: 7 723
Genre: Comedy/Romance (Fluff)
Pairing(s): CL (if you want), eventual LC
Notes: AU highschool!fic. Leon will hereon be referred to as Squall. :D
Disclaimer: Inspired by Gosho Aoyama's Conan, as well as Staryday's fic, Child Again.
Warnings: A little swearing, a whole lot of... cute:D;;
Rated: R
Summary: Leon and Cloud have never liked each other. They've been rivals ever since they first set eyes on each other. But when science experiments go out of hand, and one of them gets the worst imaginable effects change his physique, it's bound to be the most eventful summer for both of them yet.
Please to be enjoying this. :D
Squall woke up to the smell of pancakes.
He sat up, not feeling sleepy in the least, and swiftly threw the covers off, jumping down from the bed and running down the hallway to the source of the smell. In his mind, he had pictured an elfin woman with long, blonde hair and bright green eyes at the stove, wearing an apron and flipping a few golden pancakes. He had hoped that she would turn around and acknowledge him, maybe pat his head or give him an endearing smile.
This concept of 'mother' was one that he was enjoying thoroughly.
Before this, it had always been just him and his father. Their house didn't have that feminine touch to it, didn't have the womanly grace that made it seem warmer, made it seem welcome. As far as he knew, his mother had died during childbirth – giving birth to him – and all he had was a happy-go-lucky father whose philosophy had taken a major turnaround after participating in law enforcement for far too long.
No, think happy thoughts. Happy. Pancakes. Mother. Breakfast. Happy.
A head of familiar spikes was, as expected, at the stove. Squall walked up to the taller person, clutching onto the cotton pyjama pants and burying his face in it. A hand was already at his head, gently patting it, and he felt himself smile slightly before nuzzling indulgently, the hand never leaving his head.
A slight hissing was heard, followed by a quiet 'poof' as Squall only imagined a pancake being flipped successfully.
"Cloud, making breakfast single-handedly with your eyes closed and a smile on your face while coddling little Squall, though impressive, is a little disturbing. And if you continually flip them with your eyes closed, they may land somewhere other than the frying pan, " a female voice spoke, amusement clear in her tone.
"Whatever you say, Mum," a sleepy, deeper, equally amused voice replied as he stroked the young boy's head.
Squall froze.
"My son is talented at useless things. I'm disappointed," Cloud's mother said with a laugh, to which the teen snorted. She walked over to them and gave both Cloud and – bending over – Squall a peck on the cheek before taking out some orange juice from the refrigerator.
Cloud removed his hand briefly from Squall's head in order to ladle some of the pancake batter into the frying pan, smoothening it out into a nearly perfect circle with a spatula before replacing his hand, patting Squall's head again and running his fingers through the boy's hair. He allowed the batter to sit and cook for a while and, with a swift flick of the wrist, flipped the pancake successfully.
With his eyes closed.
Squall looked on at his strange display of skill, unsure whether he should be worried or intrigued by Cloud's antics. As he pondered the nature of his, as his mother aptly put it, 'useless talent', Squall suddenly remembered that he was snuggling against Cloud Strife – and to his unbidden horror, actually enjoying it – immediately relinquishing his grip of the blond's pyjama pants and giving him his requisite early morning glare.
Though his eyes were closed, Cloud seemed to have sensed it and chuckled, flipping the pancake once again before setting it in a plate with the rest.
"Squall, bring the pancakes over so we can eat breakfast," Cloud's mother said, setting the tableware. Cloud slid a final pancake onto the pile and picked up the plate, bending over and passing it to the boy. Shooting Cloud another glare, he accepted with both hands, walking over and setting it on the dining table on tiptoes before pulling out a chair and climbing onto it.
Cloud's mother was pouring all of them juice when the blond teenager walked over with some honey and maple syrup, sitting down beside Squall and giving his mother a kiss on the cheek. Before he piled some breakfast on his plate, his hand was already at the boy's forehead, checking for a temperature that would indicate a fever. When there was none to be had, he let out a satisfied noise, ruffling Squall's hair briefly and opening his eyes groggily.
"About time, too. Here I was, thinking that you'd slice off your fingers during breakfast," his mother jibed as Cloud speared some pancakes onto his plate. He merely grunted in reply, and as soon as he finished drowning his breakfast in syrup, his eyes had fluttered shut again, fork and knife automatically cutting up the pancakes and shoving them into his mouth.
"Forget I even mentioned it," she murmured amusedly, filling Squall's plate. "Syrup or honey, sweetie?"
He quietly pointed to the small bottle of maple syrup. She smiled at him and immediately poured some on his plate before setting it down in front of him.
Breakfast was a light-hearted affair, with Cloud's mother providing most of the chit chat. She talked about her day at work and of current issues, to which Cloud mostly grunted or responded with one-word replies. Squall was mostly silent, but would always answer her with a nod or a shake of the head when she asked him a question, or when she directed something towards him.
Squall thought it odd that such a wonderful, intelligent woman would be the mother to such an idiot. He listened on quietly as she talked about herself and described her workplace to the boy, asking him about how he was feeling intermittently, to which he would simply nod or shake his head in response.
Sometime in the course of breakfast, Cloud had managed to get good look at Squall and had already made a short list of things to get for him, seeing as he had mostly healed and just needed lots of fluids. Apart from that, he had different nutritional needs compared to Cloud and his mother, so a little shopping was in order.
"We're running out of milk, too, dear. I think I'll take a trip to the supermarket after breakfast. Is there anything you want? Anything else we might need?" she asked Cloud, taking a sip of her juice.
"Never mind, Mum. I can go grocery shopping later and bring Squall with me; you go ahead and get some rest. I can buy his favourite food and all that when I'm there, too," Cloud replied, setting down his cutlery and prying his eyes open. They were still half-lidded with a touch of drowsiness, but he managed a sleepy smile for his mother before a yawn overcame him.
"Goodness, any bigger and a fly will get in there," she responded, playfully tossing a napkin at Cloud. He grinned, allowing himself to get hit in the face. "Really, dear. I don't want you to go about doing all that until 3 in the morning. It isn't healthy. And I'm telling you, getting all those extra jobs are unnecessary. You should be focusing on your studies," she told him a little more seriously.
He immediately sobered up, giving her an equally stern look.
"I got a call the other day. They didn't receive the payment for the house. Said you took back some of the cash. Mum, tell me what you would do with all that money. Buy another car?"
She sighed slightly, rubbing her temples, aware of the impending argument.
"It's for you, Cloud. . ."
"I don't need to go to college. I'm fine where I am."
"You didn't apply for a scholarship, so of course I had to set aside some money for your studies. Goodness knows why you turned away the application form when the teacher specifically recommended you."
"You're not listening to me, Mum. I am not going to leave you by yourself. I'm staying here and I'm going to help you pay off all your debts."
"Sweetheart, you need an education. You can make something of yourself if you get a good education."
"It's not all about textbooks and studying, Mum! Now and today, it's all about money. And we had the money to finish paying off our debts!"
"Cloud. You are going to go to college. I'm seeing to it personally."
"I said I'm staying here with you-"
"And what? Live off of my meagre salary for the rest of your life? Cloud, as much as I appreciate how deeply you care for me, the money you earn from what odd jobs you're doing now won't be much help. If you go to college, excel – believe me, you're a good student, and you will excel – get good grades, graduate and find a decent job, that is when you can really help me pay off our debts. Specialists with real jobs and hard earned experience earn real money, and I learned that the hard way, Cloud."
"But college fees are-"
"We can talk about this later, but whatever you say will not change my mind, Cloud. Now, if you want to go out with little Squall, I suggest both of you get cleaned up quickly because I'm going to go back to bed and rest up for my next job, okay?"
Cloud remained silent, scowling as he nodded in response, conceding temporary defeat. His eyes held promise to bring up the subject again, when she was less exhausted. She gave him a weary smile and a quick peck on the cheek, walking over to Squall and kissing his forehead, tapping the boy's nose twice before retiring to her bedroom.
For the first time that day, Squall's eyes were not trained on Cloud's mother, but on Cloud, who was frowning deeply as he gathered the dishes to wash.
The hustle and bustle of towns and crowds had completely slipped his mind as indolent thoughts of a hot, lazy summer lying in bed filled his head. Staying hidden at Yuffie's and Cloud's had already made him forget how to act now that he was in a body of a 6 year old, and so when Squall had been ushered out of the house and into the supermarket with Cloud, he wasn't certain if he was supposed to take Cloud's hand to appear like a normal, healthy pre-pubescent child.
Too late, anyways.
Again with the hustle and bustle of crowds, another reason Squall had resorted to holding Cloud's hand was to avoid from getting separated from the teenager. For some odd reason, the feeling of getting left behind or abandoned was terrifying to him – probably due to the psychological instincts and fears of the childish body he possessed – so the only way to relieve himself of those fears was to keep himself from getting parted from Cloud. Now that he was four times smaller than he had initially been, it was rather easy to overlook him and he had already crashed face-first with a couple of knees. Squall absolutely refused to be carried – not in a public place – but tagging along unaided proved to be hazardous – particularly to his nose.
Besides, it didn't seem like Cloud was going to let go of his hand anytime soon, anyway.
Once they entered the shopping mall, Squall had bumped into someone or fallen over approximately 8 times, and had lost Cloud at least thrice due to the holiday crowd. The boy had been fuming after the last person to have accidentally acquainted his knee with his face simply ran off through a kitchen's backdoor, and Cloud, amused, finally decided to take Squall's hand and pulled him a little closer so that they walked side by side.
For some inexplicable reason, Squall didn't pull away like he thought he should have. That unsettling feeling that had been unnerving him throughout the walk towards the supermarket finally calmed down, and holding hands with Cloud – someone bigger and more visible – made him feel secure and assured.
Cloud hadn't let go of him yet, and it didn't seem like he planned to anytime soon. The teenager had already grabbed a basket after stepping into the market, his shopping list lying at the bottom of it. They went from aisle to aisle, Cloud quietly picking up items and studying their prices before selecting what he wanted and placing them in the basket.
Meanwhile, like a deer caught in headlights, Squall's big eyes had widened, looking around the supermarket as though completely captivated by all the goods on sale. In truth, he was just reflecting on how large and foreign everything looked, but even then, it was a strangely exhilarating experience for his childish body.
He couldn't quite suppress the delight he felt when Cloud pointed out an item or two for him to choose, his body moving automatically and choosing this and that to which Cloud would always nod at before moving to put it in his basket.
Squall found himself thinking vaguely that he probably should be a little more disagreeable and start causing a ruckus to embarrass Cloud with, but his own common sense didn't allow it, and out of habit, he simply didn't. Besides, he actually found it a little enjoyable, food shopping with Cloud.
The boy watched assiduously as the blond teenager would take an item and scrutinize it, eyebrows furrowing together and lips pressed together to form a small pout as he read through the product label. Whenever he was having an inner debate about buying something and was internally weighing out the price against the quality, he would bite down on his lower lip and lower his head slightly, eyes staring straight ahead at nothing in particular, making him appear to be brooding.
In a way, it was amusing, and Squall was privately having fun as he observed how idiotically adorable Strife could look when he was acting like a housewife.
Housewife. Cloud. Apron. Cooking. Pancakes.
Squall made a face, remembering the fluke he had made earlier that day, unaware that Cloud had taken that moment to look to him for yet another decision in the buying of some food product and had misinterpreted his expression for one of frustration that children usually felt when they were bored or not given the attention they wanted.
Recalling the slight enmity Squall seemed to harbour for him even if he had toned down by a little that day, Cloud decided that it was probably the former that the boy was experiencing. Exhaling smoothly, Cloud put the bottle of juice back into the rack and squatted down so that he was at eye level with Squall, who noticed his presence and had immediately put on a glower, pulling his hand out of Cloud's gentle grip and crossing his arms.
"All right, tiger. Go on, pick out whatever you want. After this, we can go for some ice cream," Cloud told him quietly with a miniscule smile.
Squall merely blinked.
He could simply refuse, and that could make Cloud hassle him until he did buy something. That would just be trouble for himself, so Squall decided against it. If he agreed to pick something out, he could take a bunch of over-priced items and throw a tantrum if Cloud refused to buy whatever he chose. Apart from that, it seemed as though the blond was on a tight budget, so that was even more suitable.
So, option number 2 it was.
Wandering through a few aisles with Cloud tagging behind him almost languidly, Squall kept his eye out for something he'd like and would probably cost a lot. He strolled past the candy section, gaze fleetingly bypassing all the chocolates and sweet before landing squarely on a small plastic jar of red and blue gummi bears.
Okay, so he had to admit, it wasn't the most expensive of things, but even as a teenager, he had always had this inexplicable sweet tooth. And gummi bears and jellybeans had always been his study snacks. When was the last time he had munched on some gummi bears. . .?
Not since the beginning of the final two weeks of school. It's been ages.
He blinked himself out of his thoughts, quickly turning to gaze away. He had to focus; he was supposed to buy something tasty and expensive. Something like. . . something gourmet, he had to guess. He was never someone for gourmet food since he had always been a thrifty person, and he found anything pricy, more often than not, usually useless.
Regardless, he scanned a few of the higher shelves for more upscale candy. He came across some coffee flavoured things, and instantly made a face without realizing it. No, even if it were really expensive, it would be a complete waste if he didn't eat it.
His eyes landed square on a box of Belgian chocolates.
Squall always had liked chocolates. . . And even though he never really was a fan of white chocolate – he liked dark or milk chocolate better – it still tasted pretty good. . . and was undoubtedly expensive. 35 dollars for 10 pieces? Were those truffles?
Shrugging, Squall stood on tiptoes to reach for the box and began to stretch his arm high above his head for the confection. The shelf was fixed very high up, and he felt as though his arm was going to separate from his shoulder just from reaching up for it. Just as he thought he was going to lose balance, a pair of strong arms had already swept him up in a swift movement, and he was being carried by Cloud.
Squall frowned, pushing the blond away roughly, but he was being blatantly ignored by the teenager. Cloud, without giving the box of chocolates a second glance, immediately picked up his shopping basket with his free hand and made his way to the cashier.
Squall kicked and pushed away all the way as Cloud set his things on the counter, but the older boy seemed completely unfazed by his actions. The person working the cash register looked on dolefully at the small boy that was squirming in Cloud's arms, but paid it no mind as the blond shifted his grip and scrambled around for his wallet as the total came up. Throwing a few notes down, he shoved the wallet back into his pocket before picking the grocery bags up in one hand and using both arms to carry Squall steadily.
Almost immediately, the boy's fidgets stopped as he was pressed up against Cloud's chest once again, this time no longer made to rest his head in a manner that would make him sleepy, but carried upright so much so he was actually sitting in Cloud's arms, gripping on the blond's shirt instinctively for support.
Put off, Squall took to narrowing his eyes at the teenager, lower lip jutting out slightly as his mouth twisted downwards into a frown. Cloud saw this and gave him a small, sincere smile, eyes twinkling with warmth and affection. It was something very nice and endearing to see, he had thought, and it had sort of made Squall want to smile back, but the boy immediately ducked his head, looking away and keeping steady that mask of annoyance that he had slipped on.
Easily, Cloud managed to balance the weight of the shopping bags hanging from his wrist and the boy carried in his arms as he ambled out of the mall easily, starting towards the parking lot before eventually reaching a sleek, cream coloured car lined with pure black material inside. He hoisted Squall a little higher with one arm as he unlocked the trunk, dropping the shopping bags inside. Shutting it firmly, he went to the passenger seat and buckled Squall in before tossing a smaller plastic bag to him, making his way to the driver's seat.
Curiously, the boy opened up to see what Cloud had bought as the teenager fastened his own seatbelt.
For a strange reason, Squall felt the irritation that had been plaguing him simmer down as those small hands clutched tightly onto the moderately sized glass jar Cloud had given him, filled to the brim with small and colourful packets of various gummi candy, completely different from what he had been eyeing earlier.
The boy remained silent throughout the rest of the car ride, feeling odd that a blush was welling up inside him.
"What flavour do you want?" Cloud asked, holding Squall close to him, but leaning over the cart slightly so that the boy could take a better look at the various tubs of ice cream inside. Squall felt his grip on Cloud's shirt tighten instinctively, body wanting to keep as close to the teenager as possible for fear of falling, as he peered down, eyes wandering around and landing on a cone the seller was holding.
Cloud was still pondering the flavour of ice cream he wanted when he glanced upwards, noticing that the boy had his eyes trained elsewhere and followed his gaze, lips quirking upwards slightly. He straightened up, Squall glancing at him enquiringly as Cloud automatically tightened his grip around the boy.
"A chocolate cone for him, and vanilla for me," he paused, looking into those big, grey eyes before letting out a soft sigh, a small smile curling at his lips. "Both double scoop."
For some strange reason, Squall found that this new ability he had developed – not unlike Sora's – to somehow be able to manipulate other's to cave into his whims didn't seem as condescending as he had initially thought it would. In fact, he had to say that he felt downright gleeful that Cloud was simply giving in because Squall had widened his eyes and, in a moment off guard, had given him a ruffled, unguarded, childlike expression.
He felt a little upset when Cloud finally lowered him to the ground, almost tempted to raise his arms to the blond and to put on that previous expression so that he would be carried once again, but Cloud instead pressed into his hand an ice cream cone, ruffling his short, brown hair before passing the seller a note.
Cloud took Squall's free hand gently, leading them to a little shade under a large rain tree and sat down cross-legged, pulling the boy down so that the young brunet was seated in on top of his legs, leaning back against Cloud's body.
Squall felt a little awkward at first, unsure of what to do, but when he noticed a couple other children seated on older people, namely their older sisters or on the lap of their fathers eating their own confections, Squall decided to squirm about until he felt comfortable and resigned himself to his ice cream cone. He licked away the melted chocolate that was beginning to dribble down the side of the wafer tentatively, flicking out his tongue almost timidly.
For some strange reason, Squall was in an unfathomably good mood. He didn't feel even the slightest bit of antagonism when Cloud curled his free hand around the boy's stomach in an almost protective manner, quietly eating his own ice cream as those studious blue eyes wandered around aimlessly, catching sight of other kids who were chasing each other around and couples who were taking slow strolls by the lake of the park.
Gradually, Squall eased, and soon enough he had leaned back against the teenager completely, turning Cloud into a comfortable armchair for himself. Cloud himself had his chin resting atop Squall's head once he finished eating his own cone. The sun had dimmed in intensity as the clock tower some distance away struck 3, Cloud humming a quiet tune as he drummed his fingers on his knee.
It was a rather lazy day and Squall felt the onslaughts of a nap nudging him, though the sugar he had just consumed was keeping him awake. He took to copying Cloud, simply watching as people passed by, wasting away the minutes as he felt himself nestle in Cloud's arms.
There was a soft chuckle from above him and he took to leaning his head back into Cloud's chest, glancing upwards at the teenager who had produced a clean handkerchief and was busy wiping away the remnants of the ice cream he ate from around his mouth. He felt a little embarrassment pick at him as he realized that he had eaten messily, as a child would, and had allowed Cloud Strife to wipe his mouth.
Then again, he was relaxing on top of the guy, so not much could be argued for that point. Besides, Cloud was pretty comfortable, and unbearably gentle. Was he always this tender around children? Because as far as Squall could tell, if he had seen this part of Cloud when they were still in school, he would have sworn that this blond was in no way the obnoxious Cloud Strife who paraded around the school like the moron he was.
Must be children, Squall concluded. Cloud was a sucker for children, as Yuffie said.
She was right.
A ringing cell phone brought both of them out of their thoughts as Cloud answered it, his voice as quiet as it usually was, answering in grunts and single-worded sentences. There was a brief nod on his behalf before Cloud hung up, pocketing the phone and getting to his feet, carrying Squall in the process.
"We're going to my workplace for a bit," he told Squall, pressing the boy flat against his chest as he patted the boy's back a little, walking towards his car.
"My boss has the pottiest mouth known to mankind, so make sure you don't repeat anything he says, got it?"
Amused, Squall simply nodded, wondering what on earth might come out of meeting Cid as a 6 year old.
Something was seriously wrong.
The whole picture was simply fucked up.
Squall was still having trouble digesting what had happened in the past few minutes, instead taking to sipping his tea quietly, almost timidly as he tucked his legs together, glancing around a little nervously.
He was sitting on Cid's lap.
Having goddamn tea with the old man.
The chair and table were both a little low, so only the upper part of Squall's chest was visible as a plate of fat steamed buns sat on the rough wooden surface, a pot of green tea sitting by the plate as a few thick ceramic mugs surrounded it.
Now, sitting on Cid Highwind's lap was, to be completely honest, very intimidating, especially when he was about 4 times your size and was very loud and boisterous, full-blown laughter more of barks than bursts of hilarity. He had kindly chucked the cigarette he had been smoking out the window when Cloud had strolled into the workshop with Squall, plastering the affectionate grin of an old man who hadn't seen his grandkids in a few decades on his face as he welcomed the pair, eyes trained notably on Squall.
Cloud was tinkering away with a few gadgets in the workshop itself while Squall had somehow ended up on the lap of a middle aged Cid Highwind, eating steamed buns and drinking green tea with the man as he babbled about himself and the little brats he used to take care of when he had been younger.
The stories were interesting, they really were, but Squall was a little busy trying to figure out how exactly Cid had managed to get the boy on his lap without getting a kick where the sun don't shine, or at least a scratch or two.
Cloud had mentioned that Cid would be a little rough and loud, but. . .
Squall had spent about an hour and a half in Cid's garage and was still disoriented.
"So, kid! How's Spike there been treating you, eh?"
Squall paused, tilting his head back to look up at the older man.
"Yeah, I'm talking to ya, kiddo," he grinned down at the boy, ruffling his hair in a fond manner as Squall clutched tighter to his mug, afraid that it might slip from his fingers. Squall merely blinked up at the man, eyebrows knitting together slightly as he pressed his lips together in a firm line.
"Don't scare Squall, Cid. It looks like you're gonna bite his head off or something," Cloud jibed good naturedly in that monotone of his beyond the comfort of the clean shop and in the bowels of the dirty garage, though the amusement clearly tinged his voice. Cid snorted loudly, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb before he looked down once again at Squall and gave him a wide grin.
"Nah, you can't be scared of ole' Uncle Cid now, can ya?"
"More like gramps," Cloud snorted.
"You want a job the next time you walk by here, Strife?" he asked the teen hoarsely, whipping his head towards the entrance of the garage, expression contorted into one that was less than pleased. There was a muffled reply, but the message was clear and Cid leaned back in his chair smugly.
"Heh, at least that brat knows his place. Don't seem none too sharp, Spike, but he's one nice cookie, even tho' he won't never let you get away sayin' that. Had a bunch of people offering jobs to him since he's a hard worker, but the chump chooses to come to ole' Cid. Great kid, I tell ya. Wanted to keep me company, he did," Cid explained with a grin, bouncing the small boy on his lap with his knee mindlessly.
The action was, strangely enough, actually a little soothing for Squall, who had pressed the mug he held firmly against his stomach so that it wouldn't fall over. Cid reached over for a steamed bun, tearing at the soft bread and splitting it in half. He blew both pieces very slightly and was careful to keep them at a slight distance. Once they had cooled down a little, he passed the bigger piece to the boy and brought the other to his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Gauchely, Squall blew on the bun a little, too, looking up from the piece of bread he had been given and peering to the side, noticing Cloud appear at the doorway and giving the boy a pointed look. Cloud gestured to Cid with his eyes, jerking his head towards the man slightly before he leaned against the doorway, waiting patiently for the young brunet to act.
Hesitant at first, Squall slowly began to nibble on the bun, munching it gladly after tasting the sweet flavour of the red bean filling, leaning back against the older man and relaxing, noticing that the aged blond had brightened a little at that gesture of familiarity. The mechanic began to jabber again, hands making wild gestures in the air to reinforce whatever point he had been making, to which Squall would nod to reaffirm that he was listening. Cid's stories really were interesting, as the man had been apart of the war in Wutai, and even before that, an aeronautical engineer.
Squall never would have guessed that Cid would have been that open and warm with children – never even guessed that he had had such a colourful and exciting history – and somehow felt the infectious passion the aged man possessed spreading to him. His eyes widened when Cid talked about a plane crash he had in the mountains a few decades back that made him develop his perpetual limp, completely immersed as Cid talked about the animals that inspired various machines and vehicles he had helped invent and shook his head of soft brown hair keenly when Cid asked if he had ever ridden in a private airship before, nodding when he had been asked if he wanted to.
Squall was certain that, though his interest had been greatly instigated, he wouldn't have acted the way he did under normal circumstances. Considering the fact that turning into a 6 year old was by no means normal, he allowed the childish excitement that his body was feeling to carry on, deciding against repressing it since Cid was a pretty good guy, and it was apparent that he missed having a kid around.
Cid Highwind was the last person he expected to like children. He and Yuffie were constantly picking on each other, and he had this habit of hollering down the street at a handful of kids who had this tendency to play football near his workshop.
But what puzzled Squall the most was the fact that Cloud had taken it upon himself to make Squall meet Cid. There was no real reason to do so, and he had even overheard Cloud telling his boss that Squall liked this and didn't like that, mentioning that he preferred listening to other people talk because he didn't like speaking. He had even quipped that Squall would probably like to drink something warm since they had just had some ice cream and that he was recovering from the flu.
Squall felt sincere as he waved goodbye to the aged man a few hours later, promising to come again so that he could hear more of the mechanic's stories and have some tea with him.
It had been a surprise to him when Cloud returned to the shop, clean as a whistle. The blond had shed his dirty jumpsuit and had apparently taken a shower, sporting a different set of clothes, a duffel bag hanging limply in his grip. Squall wondered vaguely when Cloud had brought the bag, since he had carried Squall with both arms on the way in. He was pretty sure the jumpsuit he had used during work was hanging in Cid's garage, but as Cloud took his hand in a gentle, but firm grip and led him to the car, he simply decided not to think about it.
"Cid's a nice guy, isn't he?"
Squall didn't reply, looking up at the teenager curiously.
"He and his wife had a miscarriage before they divorced, and as much as he appears to be an old grouch bag, he really does like little kids. Unfortunately, he tends to scare them all off," Cloud said with a very soft chuckle, opening the car door for the boy.
That was certainly unexpected. Cid was a moody old man that most of the younger generation relatively kept their distance from. He yelled and shouted at people or animals that were upsetting his work or making too much noise, and the only people who seemed to tolerate him were those miniscule few who either worked for him, or some of the much older residents of town. The parents all kept away from his workshop unless it was an absolute emergency because of his colourful language and his gruff demeanour.
As Squall felt the green tea he had drunk earlier washing away his cognisance and lulling him to sleep, he vaguely registered the snap of the seatbelt buckle and the gentle ruffling of his hair before his eyes fluttered closed.
Squall had spent an hour or so in the study with the few novels he had managed to pick off the higher shelves after he had woken up from his nap. However, even though he usually enjoyed the solitude of the library, he felt a little unsettled as shadows from the darkened sky began to loom into the spacious room.
Squall was far too short to reach the light switch that was situated by the doorway, and he simply hadn't the mood to pull a chair out to climb on in order to resume his reading with better light. Therefore, he simply picked up one of the books he had been reading and walked out into the corridor and towards the living room, the paperback tucked under his arm as he caught a glimpse of Cloud's mother hanging up the house phone and picking up a black briefcase that had been leaning against the wall.
He entered the room and was seen by the woman, Cloud's mother giving him a warm smile as she bent over to give him a quick peck on the forehead before shouting out a farewell to her son and exiting the house tritely.
Cloud jogged out of the kitchen in hopes to see his mother off but his eyes instead landed on the young brunet, still dishevelled from his earlier nap. With a small grin, the blond squatted down so that he was at eye level with the boy, eyes wandering to the book in his grip.
They exchanged a quiet glance before Cloud understood what the boy was demanding of him. He stood up slowly, brushing some imaginary dust off his knees before taking Squall's free hand in his and walking with the boy towards the study. He flicked the light switch on easily and leaned against the entryway languidly as Squall re-entered the room, flopping down in a corner and leaning against a wall, bring his knees up and resting the book against his raised thighs.
Diffidently, the blond teenager took to looking around the study, apparently having not been in the room properly for a long time already. He stepped in slowly, approaching the shelves and letting his fingers lightly run across the slightly dusty spines, walking past and scanning the titles briefly as nostalgia claimed him. He allowed his eyes to flutter closed, quick flashes of memories running through his mind as he recalled his father, and his father's warmth, and his father's faded grin, and how much happier he had been in the very same room, far too long ago.
Once his eyes had opened again, his gaze landed on a few thick, leather bound books that had been squeezed together on a lower shelf. They were very familiar, and so Cloud took to pulling two out of their place, hefting them as he scanned the cover before his eyes brightened in recognition.
He caught a glimpse of Squall from the corner of his eyes and smirked, averting his gaze to the photo albums he held before sidling down by the boy, seating himself comfortably as he leaned against that small body a little, dropping the books onto his lap and opening them up.
When the brunet felt the pressure of an uncomfortable elbow that had been jutting out and nudging him in the stomach, he had looked up and scowled at the teenager, about to shove him away before Cloud raised his bothersome arm, draping it loosely around the boy's figure and pulling him a little closer before he pointed out to a black and white photo in the album.
"This is my mum when she was still in school," Cloud said softly, a ghost of a smile flitting across his lips.
Squall couldn't help but stare at the picture, gaze switching between the pretty blonde girl in the photograph and Cloud himself in comparison. It was hard to believe that they were two different people because this young Mrs. Strife was impossible to tell apart from her son. Their spiky hair, their faces, their similarly upturned mouths – though hers was more out of shyness than Cloud's fleeting amusement – down to the curve of their noses; they were indistinguishable from one another.
It was then that Squall began to notice how delicately fragile Cloud's features really were. All this while, he had simply waved it away as the teenager being a girlish-looking homebody, but after taking a closer look at both Cloud and this photograph, he could see clearly that Cloud had a most aristocratic visage, face attractively shaped and handsome cheekbones well defined, though not too prominently so.
In all truths, Cloud was actually very fair, but the immense amount of time he spent under the sun while he was still in the swim team had made his skin take on a fetching tanned colour – nothing too much, like Tidus' dark brown skin, but simply a nice and healthy shade.
"My mum wanted to be a doctor so that she could help people, so she moved to one of the medical universities to the west. She graduated and all, but was accepted as a nurse for a local hospital. The hospital helped the army a lot, and she met my dad when she was still a student. They dated a lot, and they had that golden couple thing going and all."
Cloud flipped a page, eyes lingering over a few notable photographs before he pointed out a picture that had a well-built and good-looking man on it, leaning against an iron fence, wearing what seemed like an army uniform. It was also black and white in colour, the photo already beginning to yellow from age.
"This is my dad. He used to serve in the army, you know?"
Squall felt himself pause, suddenly realizing that he had had a hand resting on Cloud's arm, leaning over to take a better look of the pictures as he absentmindedly rested against the blond. Cloud didn't seem to have minded, and Squall decided to simply look up at the blond in enquiry.
He hadn't seen Cloud's father before. In fact, he hadn't even heard Cloud ever mention him. All this while, he had ever only uttered this and that about his mother, but never his father. If Cloud noted that his dad had been in the army – with a past tense – Squall could only conclude that he was probably deceased.
"You're probably wondering where he is, huh?"
Squall cocked his head to the side, eyes wide and hair ruffled.
Cloud smiled at that image, and Squall couldn't help the pleasant twitch his lips felt at such a sight.
"We used to live in Wutai," Cloud explained softly, hand resting in Squall's hair and stroking gently. "He was a brave soldier and fought with the rest of the army when war broke out there." He glanced at the boy from the corner of his eyes. "You know Yuffie?"
Squall nodded.
"We grew up together in Wutai. I had to take care of her a lot since Mum was a nurse and Yuffie's parents were the leaders of Wutai."
Unsure of what to make of this new revelation, Squall nodded again, if not a little hesitantly this time.
"The war was really bad over there," Cloud continued quietly, eyes trained on the photograph once again, flipping the page over and revealing more pictures of his parents – this time in colour – in front of a large house in a region that looked distinctly like the Western Continent. "We had to move out of Wutai or we'd get involved in the local rebelling. We managed to, but just without my dad."
Cloud flipped the page over abruptly, photos of a baby Yuffie wrapped in a bundle held carefully in a very young Cloud's arms, a big, idiotic grin lighting up his face brightly, eyes clearly twinkling even through the photograph itself. Cloud had looked so happy then, Squall found himself thinking.
"He went off to guard duty one day, but he just didn't come back," Cloud said, exhaling a little huffily, eyes lingering on a photo of him and Yuffie on a backyard swing. He noticed the deep gaze Squall had trained on him and gave the boy a small smile, ruffling his hair slightly.
"He didn't die or anything," Cloud said good-naturedly, giving Squall's nose a tap. "He just went off and didn't come back. Nobody knows where he is, and Mum was really, really sad that he went missing. Only a couple years back, she decided to move on and make a little memorial for him, so we have a sort of tombstone on an empty plot of land at the local cemetery."
The look Squall was giving Cloud was a truly pathetic sight, and the teenager had to resist the urge to just hug the boy and say that everything was fine. Squall himself felt completely hopeless after hearing that disclosure, felt that that was the worst story he had ever heard, and that Cloud's young mother shouldn't have been put through all of that, especially when she was surviving on her own with an infant.
From the pictures of when they were moving, Squall could only guess that Cloud had been 7 or 8 when his father disappeared. Coupled with the debts they must have amassed through the years, Cloud's overly defensive demeanour and the completely worn down expressions both mother and child constantly wore day in and day out, Squall found that he was questioning his motives for bullying the blond prior to this.
Cloud had been nothing of the monster he had expected. He was nothing of the useless, unbearable and arrogant person Leon had known. This Cloud that Squall had gotten to understand was warmer, gentler, kinder than the prick that was constantly baiting him to a fight. He even understood that Cid Highwind, the town's resident grumpy old fart, was actually a lonely guy who wanted some company, and maybe a few kids to play with because he couldn't have any of his own.
Cloud really was nothing like the Cloud he had known.
Why was this Cloud so distrustful and cynical? Was it because he had lost his father all those years ago? Was it because of all the work he had forced upon himself so that he wouldn't be idle, so that he wouldn't deem himself useless to his mother? From what Squall could see, it seemed as though Cloud was blaming himself for something, but he just could not understand what.
Squall didn't fight when Cloud picked him up and settled him on the teenager's legs, arms enveloping him in something reminiscent of an embrace as he set the album on the boy's lap. They flipped through the rest of the album together with Cloud quietly explaining this or that photograph, Squall leaning back in the warmth that had begun to engulf him, finding that he wanted to know more about Cloud, wanted to find out what had happened in his past and his childhood stories, and about what interested him and what he did for fun. He found himself curling up slightly, a small yawn slipping out as Cloud wrapped a protective arm around his waist, burying his face in his soft brown hair and leaning his chin gently against his head.
Squall wanted to understand this Cloud.
A/N: Wewt. Hey again. Nothing much to note, just... review please? 8D