A month. Cloud waited a whole month to ask the question.
The question Leon really didn't want to answer.
"Can I call you by your real name?"
The brunette stood at the window of the living room of Merlin's house, his hands placed on the sill, his eyes fixed on the street in front of him. Cloud stood only just at arm's length, out of view for anyone who looked into the house through the window.
They'd been 'together' for a month. No one was the wiser, apparently.
The two of them were almost terrifyingly good actors.
"Leonhart is my real name," Leon whispered after an extended silence between the blonde and he, not looking at Cloud. Tifa and Aerith were in the kitchen. They could notice that the two men were being more than friendly if they weren't careful.
"You know what I mean," Cloud replied evenly. He was the one who wanted to keep the relationship a secret. If he felt that they could speak about this matter in a place such as this, it was his decision. Leon glanced sideways at the blonde, just in time to see those unearthly blue eyes fix unwaveringly on him.
Cloud simply refused to refer to Leon by his new name. It was always 'Leonhart' or a very creatively lewd remark. Never 'Leon'.
After a long, mutual silence, grey-blue eyes roaming over the blonde's face, while Cloud's eyes just watched him closely, Leon finally nodded. "Fine," he whispered. "But, only in private." The blonde deserved to call him by his real name, but, if Leon didn't like it, he'd definitely say so.
The tiniest of smiles crossed Cloud's face: barely visible, but, making his whole being seem to glow. Leon couldn't help smile back.
The door opened behind Cloud and Yuffie bounded in, her eyes immediately falling on Leon, who's smile immediately disappeared and he punched Cloud across the face.
The blonde took half a startled step back, his head directed away, a hand on his cheek. He looked back at the brunette, his pupils contracted into pinpricks once again, echoing the time the brunette had punched him in Port Royal, an emotionless mask on his face, just like before. Yuffie let out an alarmed squawk at the sudden show of violence; Tifa and Aerith looking up from the kitchen.
The ninja's noise did not go unnoticed by the blonde, who quickly knew why Leon has punched him. Basically just a distraction: just to get Yuffie to overlook the peaceful smile that was on Leon's face when she came in; that she'd seen by accident. Without a thought, Cloud shot out a boot and kicked the brunette sharply on the chest, making him slam against the wall behind him.
"Boys!" Tifa cried from the kitchen, hurrying over. The Restoration Committee had been witness to many a violent fight between the two swordsmen: it seemed to just be a way of life, and the times it happened within a week were increasing. But, that didn't mean that any of the females liked to see it.
The brown-haired swordsman coughed sharply, dodging Tifa's elegant hands that tried to hold him away from Cloud, the blonde quickly ducking Yuffie's restraining arms, the blonde backing out of the door quickly, Leon following without hesitation, hands balled into fists.
"We gotta stop them!" Yuffie cried, flinching as Leon punched Cloud sharply in the gut, receiving a violent elbow in the chest in return, the two men pausing momentarily in their fighting to quickly work their way quickly up the stairs to the bailey; a more roomy fighting arena.
Aerith sighed from her place in the kitchen. "Let them be," she murmured gently, the two other dark-haired girls turning to look at her pleadingly. "I think they need this."
Indeed they did.
Leon slammed his fist into the back of Cloud's neck and the blonde flew forwards, only just stopping himself cracking his forehead against the stone wall in the bailey. He slapped his hands onto the flat rock and pivoted around sharply, kicking Leon across the cheek, making the brunette's body snap around.
Panting and looking back at the blonde through his curtain of silky hair, blood leaking from his bruised cheek, Leon couldn't stop the wide smirk taking over his face despite the pain. Leaning against the stone wall, his hands flat behind him, Cloud returned a smug grin of his own.
Pushing away from the wall, the blonde walked briskly backwards toward the restoration site, his eyes still fixed on the brunette. Leon quickly straightened, letting his neck crack back into place, following Cloud, his hands flexing before balling into fists again.
Neither of the two men had their swords, and, truthfully, fighting bare-fisted against someone of near-same strength was truly an enjoyable thing. Especially when you liked being hurt physically.
Leon had divulged that tiny bit of information recently to his blonde partner, and Cloud had simply stared at him for a few minutes, at a loss for words, before a very wide, very, very smug smirk melted onto his face.
One of the most violent fist-fights in the history of The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee happened just minutes after that conversation, and Leon still had dreams about it that made him sweat.
Cloud, apparently, didn't mind being hit, finding the pain 'soothing' –Leon stated he didn't understand how that worked, and the blonde said he liked throbbing pain better than sharp pain from blades, because it proved to him that his heart was still beating–, and got the same salacious high as Leon when they fought bare-handed.
It was a rule that no makeshift weapons were to be used in their bare-handed fights, and that there would be no intentionally broken bones. Otherwise, the fight would have to stop and they would have to heal themselves. Frankly, healing was cheating, and it just made the fight seem useless.
Bashing the crap out of one-another was purely for enjoyment.
And, enjoy it, the two swordsmen did.
A fist was slammed into Cloud's ribs and the blonde doubled over before he was grabbed by the wrists and his back slammed against one of the jagged rocks in the restoration site, the edge digging sharply into his spine, bruising him.
Leon and Cloud stood there, pressed against each other, panting heavily. Hot breath mingling and gusting over their faces and necks. The two men took a moment to catch their breaths.
"You're holding back," the brunette accused quietly.
"Yes." Cloud didn't even try to deny it.
Capturing the blonde's lips with his own, Leon drew the blonde into a deep, lustful, passionate kiss. The two of them could taste each other's blood on their tongues; Cloud's lip having been split a while ago, and a few of Leon's molars having been loosened.
Sucking urgently on Cloud's lip, tonging the small, bleeding gash, Leon heard the blonde let out a quiet, breathy sigh.
"Don't," the brunette demanded against his lips before pushing closer, delving into Cloud's mouth with his blood-saturated tongue. The blonde greedily sucked on the bloody muscle, making Leon groan and press closer, their erections rubbing together between them, through tight leather and loose cargo pants.
Twisting one hand free of the brunette's grasp, Cloud gripped a handful of Leon's silky hair painfully tight, pressing as close as he could, biting urgently at the brunette's lips and tongue. Leon drew away and Cloud's hand flew from his hair before punching him sharply across the face with almost unimaginable force.
The brunette's body wrenched away and he was slammed onto all-fours, pain shooting through his whole spine and jaw, before suddenly he felt someone jam their knee into the small of his back and he slammed into the ground under him, dirt sticking to his bloody cheek and all his breath fleeing his lungs.
"This better?" Cloud panted huskily into his ear, taking a moment to drag his tongue over the shell languidly and bite at the lobe, his hands grasping Leon's shoulders painfully hard.
A breathless, lustful moan was all the assent he needed from the brunette.
Sliding his hands down Leon's shoulders, Cloud planted his hands on either side of the brunette's head, dipping his neck to place a wet kiss against the back of Leon's neck. Suddenly, one of Leon's arms shot back and he slammed his elbow against the blonde's exposed ribs, Cloud immediately jumping off the other man, stumbling back a few paces.
Leon rose to his feet as quickly as he could, pain sparking up and down his spine, breathing hard: eyes fixed on the blonde, who stood a few metres away.
Coughing sharply, blood speckled the ground in front of Cloud, and Leon froze.
Curling an arm around his middle, Cloud placed a hand against the place under his arm where the Gunblade-weilder had elbowed him, fingers gently kneading into the flesh.
Another cough, and a stream of scarlet liquid flowed from in between Cloud's soft lips and broke into droplets, spotting the flat ground in front of his thick leather boots- with fresh blood.
Fuck, thought Leon. He'd broken a rib.
Harsh blue eyes looked up at concerned grey-blue ones, and suddenly Cloud kicked some dirt into the air. Leon let out a sharp yell as the dirt flew his face and into his eyes. Suddenly his legs were kicked out from under him, his back meeting the ground with a sharp CRASH, the metal grating he fell on jittering noisily and digging into his flesh.
A foot slammed into his chest and he grunted, staring up at Cloud; who pushed his thick-soled boot a little harder into his chest, putting more pressure directly over the brunette's heart.
"Cheat," Leon grunted, blinking the dirt out of his eyes, trying to breathe properly as his ribs were compressed by the pressure of Cloud's boot. The blonde just stood over him, pushing his boot just a little harder and harder into his heart.
Stormy eyes stared up at unearthly blue ones, and Cloud stepped over him and straddled him, pressing his bloody lips against Leon's own.
Pushing himself into a sitting position, Leon gently let his fingers dance over the blonde's side, tracing his broken rib, before gently ushering the blonde off his lap.
Doing as he was told, Cloud slipped off Leon's lap and watched silently as the brunette got onto his knees and helped Cloud lay on the ground, the brunette settling himself in between the blonde's spread legs as he dragged Cloud's shirt-zip down.
Cloud's shirt fell open, revealing numerous bruises and a large purple-red blotchy one that was slowly expanding across his side. Leon pulled away, gently stroking his smooth leather-clad fingertips over the unbroken, blotchy skin.
Neither of them said anything as the brunette flicked open a Potion and tipped the contents of the healing liquid over the blonde's broken ribs. Cloud let in a shaky breath as his whole side glowed and healed: leaving smooth unsullied flesh across his ribs, but his other wounds still untouched and bleeding.
Leaning down again, Leon pressed a gentle kiss against the blonde's smooth ribs, exactly where he'd broken the bone. A silent apology. Cloud's eyes fluttered closed and he said nothing. Getting up again and pressing his lips against the blonde's bloody ones; Leon was immediately welcomed, Cloud tangling one hand into his silky brown hair and biting at his lips.
Pulling away after a moment, Leon crawled slowly down the blonde's body, kissing wetly over heated, bruised, sweaty skin. Taking one nipple into his mouth and biting at it, Cloud arched against him, quiet, breathy sounds floating from deep in his throat. Leon continued down the blonde's smooth stomach, his tongue dipping into his navel quickly before he came to a stop over the very noticable bulge in the loose cargo-pants below him.
Slender fingers raked through Leon's silky hair and he pressed a kiss against the soft flesh above the blonde's navel, raising one of his own hands to slip Cloud's belt out of it's loops and drag down the zip of the baggy pants he wore.
Cloud's head fell back onto the metal grate carelessly with a sigh, his eyes tightly closed.
It was, by far, not the first time Leon had done this to the blonde. Hell, he'd done it more than he should've in only a month. Cloud had been the first one to take their relationship to the next level. Leon had just awoke suddenly in the early hours of the morning around a week and a half after that stormy night in Hollow Bastion, to find the blonde climbing onto his bed.
Leon asked what the hell the blonde was doing, and Cloud said, quite simply, that 'he was doing this on a whim, because he thought the two of them were respectable adults who could stay quiet, and if Leon didn't like it, it was his own damn fault.'
To say the least, Leon did like it.
And, two days later, he decided to return the favour.
Dragging his tongue up Cloud's throbbing member, he heard the blonde pant and throw back his head, one of his knees bending; lifting slowly in the brunette's peripheral vision. Placing a hand on the blonde's thigh, he pushed the leg back down again, tugging Cloud's pants a little further down his hips, but not completely, taking the head of the blonde's erection into his mouth.
A quiet, breathless sound fluttered from Cloud's throat and the brunette easily took the rest of the blonde's erection into his mouth with practised ease; intense wet heat engulfing the blonde and making him shift and squirm urgently on the ground, Leon's hands keeping his hips firmly in place as Cloud let out breathless mewls and gasps.
Leon never knew torture could elicit such beautiful, perfect sounds from the other. The brunette just stayed there, Cloud's throbbing erection engulfed completely, not making a movement, just letting the pure heat of the other burn into his skin: make him beg. Stormy blue eyes just stared up at the blonde, who panted like he'd been starved of air.
Cloud finally had enough teasing. Biting his split lip sharply, ignoring the blood that wept from it, the blonde quickly bent a leg and shot it out again, kicking Leon in the side, eyes firmly closed.
There was a sharp scrape of teeth on the underside of his erection and the blonde did his best not to moan. His best wasn't good enough, but Leon liked that. Sucking and bobbing his head, the brunette deep-throated Cloud's member, the blonde's hand that was gripping his hair, flexing almost urgently.
Leon continued this ministrations, sliding a hand up the blonde's leg, eyes gently closed, concentrating purely on the blonde's pleasure, his breathing, his movements, his sounds.
Leon scraped his teeth against the sensitive flesh again, and he heard the barely-audible shuddering breath that he'd learnt to listen for.
Hollowing out his cheeks and sucking sharply, Leon opened his eyes just in time to see Cloud open his mouth in a silent scream and arch his back off the ground in a perfect bow, orgasm crashing over his taught body; the brunette swallowing all evidence without hesitation as the blonde's trembling body fell back onto the metal grating beneath him.
Easily tucking the blonde back into his pants and slipping his belt back on, the Gunblade wielder pressed warm, affectionate kisses up Cloud's body, pressing a lingering kiss directly over his hammering heart. Finally coming to his neck, Leon licked at the blonde's throat gently before lifting himself to capture Cloud's lips with his own, letting the blonde taste his essence on his lips.
"Squall?"
Leon's eyes opened and he stared down at Cloud, the blonde looking up at him with a content but schooled expression. He was gauging the brunette's reaction.
For some reason, that name didn't sound as filthy as it usually did, whenever someone else said it.
With a tiny smile, Leon leant down and pressed a gentle kiss against the edge of the blonde's lips. He didn't know why, but Cloud could use his name without making it seem like a foul, impure curse.
A smile spread across Cloud's lips and he curled a hand around the back of the brunette's head, gripping at the silky locks of hair, pulling Leon into a deep, soft, content kiss. The two of them stayed there, licking and kissing gently, blood and semen all through each of their mouthes, until Cloud let out a quiet sigh and gripped Leon's hair a little tighter.
The brunette looked down to see bright blue eyes glinting mischievously.
"My turn," Cloud smirked.
Leon couldn't even blink before his back was slammed against the ground, his shirt and jacket pulled off, and heated, bloody, possessive kisses were pressed down his stomach as his belt-buckle was yanked off.
Letting his head fall back onto the hard ground, Leon sank his teeth into his leather-covered knuckles to stop himself making any pleasure-drenched noise that longed to be heard.
((TBC. My writing-slump keeps coming and going, but I'm slowly working my way through it. This is a series, remember. Based on the titles of the chapters. That is why there are two chapters titled 'let me kiss you', and the fact I've skipped some important details completely, like Cloud and Sephiroth's fight. Anyway, this is my first written blowjob, so, be gentle with me. I've come to like violent pairings, so, this chapter was purely for my own sadistic enjoyment. Read, enjoy, and review.))