It was just about five in the morning when Leon wandered back to Merlin's, his Gunblade in hand, his hair messy and his legs aching. He walked down the halls, wrenched open his bedroom door, walked in, before closing his door again with a sharp kick.

He hated Cloud. He really did.

Throwing his Gunblade to the floor, uncaring, and yanking off his clothes to change into a pair of shorts, Leon glared at his surroundings before throwing himself onto his bed and glaring at the ceiling silently.

Whatever Cloud did to him after their match earlier that day, it wouldn't go away.

He could feel it. He could feel the skin on the side of his face burning; where the blonde had breathed against him. He could feel tingles all over his body from the heat that radiated off the other. He could still smell him.

Raising his hands and gripping his hair, Leon let out a frustrated groan. Drugs? Did Cloud drug him to feel like this? Did he manipulate him?

Make it go away.

Pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes, Leon vowed silently that he's kill Cloud. In a violent, and very un-sportsman-like fashion. Smashing the blonde's head with a rock while he slept sounded poetic, and it cheered the brunette up immensely.

Eventually, after contemplating seventeen equally violent killing methods, and a seriously bloody and overly-gory one that would no doubt mentally scar all of the people living in Hollow Bastion, Leon's eyelids drooped, and he fell asleep with a tiny smirk on his face.

Leon felt soft kisses being pressed against his ear, hands slowly trailing down his chest, heat of another body against his own. He turned his head and captured those smooth lips, cupping the back of their head, short silky hair tickling at his fingers.

The other pressed against him. It was a man.

For some reason, that fact didn't merit any real interest to Leon. The unknown man straddled him, pressing as close as he could, hands threading through Leon's hair and down his neck. The kiss was heated, but soft. No biting to speak of. Just lips and tongue, hot and wet, but not painful. The occasional nip was not ruled out, though.

Raising his other hand, which had wandered to the unknown man's hip, Leon let it trail up the man's chest. His partner was athletic, muscled, but not too much; he was slender. Leon grasped the zip of the man's shirt and pulled it down, his knuckles brushing against the other's heated chest as the teeth of the zip bit at his fingers.

Leon pulled the sleeveless shirt from the other's muscled shoulders, the man untangling his fingers from Leon's hair so he could throw the shirt to the floor, never stopping the kiss. After he did so, he pressed close to Leon, their chests against each other; burning, searing into Leon's flesh.

He moaned quietly into the kiss, his hands running up the other's powerful arms to cup the base of his neck, the other man finally pulling away from the kiss, leaving Leon gasping, before the other quickly leant down and licked at his neck, his fingers raking down Leon's bare chest, leaving soft pink lines in the tanned skin.

Heartbeat speeding and chest heaving, Leon pulled at his bed-mate's hair lightly as his partner nipped down a tendon to his clavicles. Leon felt teeth sink into his skin and he let out a breathy moan, flicking his head to the side, his brown hair fanning out on the pillow.

Tightening his grip on his partner's hair, he yanked them up to eye-level, giving him a stern, challenging glare.

"Don't think you're the boss in all this," he warned quietly, his partner only giving him a small, smug smirk before capturing his lips again, raking his fingers through Leon's wavy brown hair and cupping his face.

Leon rolled them over so he was on top, pinning his partner against the bed under them, the kiss deepening, nips and bites melting into it, Leon sinking his teeth into his partner's bottom lip, drawing blood, the other man moaning quietly.

He released the lip, the metallic taste of blood all through his mouth as he kissed and nipped his way down his partner's neck, leaving little red smears, his partner panting and raking his fingers through Leon's hair, tugging occasionally.

Licking and nipping down a toned chest, Leon bit at a nipple, causing his partner to pant his name. Leon licking and sucking at the hardening nub of flesh before moving to the other and giving it the same treatment, ignoring the insistent hardness pressed against his stomach.

The hand tightening in Leon's hair, he was tugged up before he crushed his lips against his partner's, swallowing the breathy moan of his name.

"Leonhart."

Leon pulled back, ignoring the flash of blue eyes and leaning down, sucking at his partner's neck again, blonde spikes of hair tickling at his nose.

"Leonhart."

Leon awoke with a start and just stared at the ceiling, his mouth dry, his eyes wide, his heart hammering against his ribcage like someone was slamming their fists into it, and a part of his anatomy he really didn't want to react from his dream, doing so anyway.

It was a dream. It was a dream. It was a dream.

Swallowing thickly, he could only just hear the sounds of life behind his bedroom door over the blood rushing in his ears. It was just after midday.

The other people of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee had decided never to wake Leon if he had failed to awake on his own. They knew he worked hard, and thought he deserved to sleep-in once in a while. Leon used to loathe the fact that they didn't wake him up, but, today, Leon just thanked all the Gods he could think of that they did.

Only three syllables were dominant in Leon's mind. They just ricocheted around his brain like three loose bouncy-balls in a box, flying in every direction while Leon's breathing, limbs and other mental functions were left in the dust.

They were three simple syllables:

HO--

--LY--

--SHIT.

Turning the tap for the cold water slowly, Cloud stood in front of the bathroom basin, a towel hanging around his neck.

It was the day after Leon and his little 'match', and Cloud was still ashamed of his performance. It was his fault that the match stopped halfway through, and it was his fault Leon wasted some of his items. The blonde man sighed, shifting his weight onto his other leg, wearing nothing but his cargo-pants, his torso and arms still damp from his late shower.

Slowly dipping his left arm into the basin of cool water, Cloud sighed, cupping water in his other hand and letting it drizzle over his wounded skin.

The Geostigma that covered around fourty-percent of his left arm just stayed there, a sickly green-black scar-tissue that weeped thin, black discharge from the cut Leon had inadvertently caused yesterday. Cloud watched as the black secretion lazily slithered from the cut, into the water around it, before pooling upon the bottom of the basin.

There was no cure.

A sharp knock startled Cloud and he yanked his arm out of the water, pulling the towel from around his neck before wrapping it around the wounded appendage, hiding it from prying eyes.

"Cloud?"

Blue eyes stared at the disgusting black-tinged water in the basin, and he quickly pulled the plug, the basin gurgling throatily before becoming empty. "Yes?" Cloud said after a moment, his hand curling around his hidden arm.

"Are you decent?" It was Aerith. Moving over to the door, Cloud made sure the towel would stay, wrapped around his arm, before he lifted his hand and opened the door, raising his eyebrows curiously at the lady standing before him.

She gave him a quick smile. "Leon is sleeping, did you tire him out yesterday?" Aerith asked warmly, motioning to the closed door of Leon's bedroom, down the hall.

Frowning a little, Cloud shook his head. "No," he murmured, leaning his shoulder on the doorway and looking at the door at the end of the hall, before back at Aerith. "Our match was hardly anything to be tired over."

The pretty brunette let out a quiet hum, tapping her chin thoughtfully, before giving Cloud a small smile in thanks for his help, turning and walking down the hall, coming to a stop in front of Leon's door.

"Leon?" she called, knocking on the door gently. It was just about four in the afternoon. Leon shouldn't still be asleep. Even if he was tired.

There was no reply.

"Are you there?" Aerith called, a little louder. Cloud came to stand a little behind her, head tilted slightly to the side, hand grasped around his wrapped arm. Leon wasn't one to keep others waiting.

Aerith grasped the doorknob and turned it. "Leon?"

The room had no occupants. The bed was perfectly made, drawers were closed, and, save for a scrap of paper placed in the centre of the bed, it barely looked like anyone had lived there for a while.

Hurrying over to the paper, Aerith picked it up while Cloud read the words from over her shoulder, standing in the doorway.

I'm going to be gone for a while.

Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just need time to think.

Tell Yuffie to stay away from the generator until I get back.

– Leon.

Areith stared at the paper, frowning a little, wondering where Leon had went, and why. Sure, Hollow Bastion was nearly completely restored, but, there was still a lot to do. Why had Leon left?

Meanwhile, Cloud's sharp blue eyes stared around the room, his lips pursed slightly, hand tightening around his arm, before his eyes came to a full stop on the half-open window.

Where are you?

((TBC. There. A nice semi-long chapter for you. I really don't think I'll need to pump up the rating just yet, do you? I will later, though. I'm starting the twelfth chapter now, so, I've only got another nine left, including it. First try at writing any gay groping in a while, so, be nice. As always, please, read and review!))