It was two in the morning when Leon felt the telltale inkling of hunger, half-open eyes staring blankly at the ceiling of his bedroom. Making no attempt to go back to sleep, the brown-haired Gunblade wielder slipped off his bed, pulled on a clean, white shirt, and made his way to the kitchen.
He and Cloud had been together for at least four months now, and Leon couldn't help feeling that something was missing. Sending a quick glance at the blonde's closed bedroom door, Leon passed it and padded into the kitchen, eyes roaming the dark room.
Since Cloud wanted the relationship between the two of them to be completely secret, he'd refused to let the brunette leave any hickeys in any places that might be seen, or touch him when other people were around. The occasional blowjob in the deserted restoration site was not ruled out, thankfully.
Sighing and flipping out a sharp knife from the drawer, Leon stared blankly at the blade.
He loved Cloud. He really did. But, he wanted to make it known that the beautiful blonde was his, and only his. Not being able to touch him, kiss him in public; it was almost like Cloud didn't trust him.
The only marks he was allowed to make for everyone else to see were bruises from his fists and cuts from his blade. Leon found that depressing.
A quiet tap brought Leon out of his thoughts, lowering the blade he was staring at, looking up at the noise.
Cloud stood in the doorway of the hall, his hand brought up and placed against the wall beside him, one nail placed against the polished wood. He wore his usual black shorts and shirt, his hair a little messier than it usually was, his eyes half open, but alert in the darkness.
"Why are you up?" the blonde breathed, sliding his hand down the wall for it to drop by his side.
Grey-blue eyes floated away from Cloud, to the blade Leon held in his hand. "Just hungry," he mumbled after a moment, placing the blade on the bench-top before him with slender fingers.
He barely heard the blonde in the doorway advance on him, the only evidence Cloud had moved being the almost silent shift of material. Leon felt supple fingertips drag down his arm and he looked to his side, Cloud standing so intoxicatingly close.
The blonde slid between Leon and the bench in front of him, pressing his front gently against the brunette's, nudging Leon's nose with his own. It was one of the rare times Cloud felt like expressing his affection for Leon in Merlin's house. The brunette placed both his hands on either side of the blonde, flat against the bench behind him, Cloud's warm hands sliding around his torso to link together at the small of his back.
"Why don't you trust me?" Leon whispered.
Cloud paused, his bright blue eyes; glowing in the darkness, staring into Leon's own stormy blue-grey ones.
"I do trust you," the blonde mumbled, nudging his nose against the brunettes again, pressing their bodies just a little closer, fitting together perfectly.
"No you don't." Leon trailed the tip of his nose down Cloud's cheek, down his jaw, burying it in fine silky golden hairs at the nape of his neck, pressing a gentle kiss against the soft flesh just under his ear. He felt no pulse.
"Why do you assume you know how I feel?" Cloud whispered, blue eyes staring blankly over the brunette's shoulder. A single beat of his heart channelled through his veins, the lone pulse felt by Leon's lips, pressed against the blondes jugular.
"Why don't you tell me?" Leon returned, straitening up, stormy eyes fixing on the glowing blue ones before him. Cloud didn't move, he didn't make a sound: just stared fixedly into the brunette's eyes, burning into him. Talking about it wasn't an option.
Leon scoffed gently, bowing his head, his silky curtain of hair hiding his face. "Of course," he murmured.
"You don't talk about your feelings," Cloud murmured, the word 'feelings' coming off his tongue like one he'd never heard or used before; foreign. new. "I don't see why I should start."
Lifting his head, Leon stared unwaveringly at the blonde through his curtain of silky brown hair. Sighing and leaning back, he removed his hands from the bench-top, curling his arms behind himself, unlinking Cloud's hands from behind him to take a step away from the blonde and walk toward living room.
Leon leant his shoulder against the arch between the living room and kitchen, his back to Cloud.
"Do you want me to talk?"
Looking over his shoulder, the brunette stared at Cloud, who was exactly where he'd left him; arms hanging by his sides, blue, unearthly eyes fixed on him. "You're not going to," Leon stated.
"No," agreed Cloud, his face blank of all emotion. "I'm not, but do you want me to?"
Letting out a quiet snort of aggravation, the brunette turned back to the blonde, glaring at him.
"I want you to tell me you trust me. Because, as far as I'm concerned, you don't." His voice was soft, he didn't want to wake anyone up, but it was hard to keep from shouting. He strode toward Cloud with every word, anger bubbling up inside of him like a foul gas in a hot liquid. "You never let me kiss you in public, you never let me touch you in the streets. How do I know you actually--"
He stopped dead.
Cloud stood before him, face emotionless, but his eyes burning with pure and utter rage. He held the knife Leon had been fondling earlier against the brunette's neck, pressing against the tanned skin, tiny beads of blood weeping from under the cold metal.
Leon stood very very still, breathing as shallow as possible, the blade digging into his flesh every time he did so, his stormy eyes fixed on the blonde standing in front of him.
He didn't want to die, especially when Hollow Bastion is nearly finished, but, the way Cloud was looking at him right now, he knew it was a very distinct possibility.
The blade slid from his neck, but the tip stayed against his skin, beads of blood clinging to it. Slowly, Cloud lifted the blade, letting it slither up Leon's neck. The brunette didn't move.
Leon felt the tip of the blade graze against his eyelashes, the sheen of the metal glinting in the corner of his eye as the tiny droplets of his blood that clung to the knife fell onto his cheek.
"Repeat what you just said," Cloud whispered, his voice barely audible, with no emotion, but lathered with warning. Leon stared at the blonde, feeling the blade graze against his eyelashes again. He'd have to be careful, or he'd lose an ear. Minimum.
Dragging his tongue over his dry lips, the brunette swallowed thickly, feeling the tiny droplets of blood weeping from the shallow cut in his neck spill over the wound and trickle down his neck.
"I want you to tell me you trust me," he breathed, eyes fixed on the glowing blue ones before him. Before he could continue, he felt the knife dig into the flesh just at the edge of his eye and he stopped everything. Thinking; breathing; everything.
"The fact that I said that I did, is completely ignored, is it?" Cloud asked, his voice soft and even. The hand that was holding the blade dangerously close to cutting out Leon's eye was steady, and it didn't move.
The brunette was silent for a few moments, keeping as quiet as possible, hoping that the blonde would not kill him for replying. "What you say is irrelevant," he breathed, swallowing as he felt the blade dig a little deeper into his skin, beads of blood welling up around it. He continued, regardless. "It's how you act."
"And how do I act, Leonhart?" Cloud asked.
Leon winced, his eyes closing for a moment. He didn't like it when Cloud used his last name when they were alone. He'd come to like the blonde using his first name. Whenever the blonde used his last name, Leon knew that he was either angry, or wanted to be alone.
Licking his lips and opening his eyes again, Leon let in a slow breath, the blood weeping from under the blade trickling down his cheek and gathering under his chin. "You act like I'm just another person."
The look that flickered across Cloud's eyes was barely decipherable, but Leon felt the blade gently trail down his cheek and away from his skin. His partner moved forward, their bodies not touching, but close enough that heat was exchanged. Cloud nudged his nose against Leon's, the hand holding the knife hanging by his side. "Do I?"
Nodding in return, Leon let his eyes slide shut as Cloud pressed a warm, gentle kiss against his mouth. "So," the blonde mumbled against his lips. "You want me to show you that I trust you?"
"Yes," murmured the brunette, pressing a kiss against the blonde's lips. Leon felt something being pushed into his hand and his fingers forced to curl around it. Slowly, his hand was brought up, Cloud's own hand grasped around it, guiding it's movements, and the brunette pulled back to see what he was holding.
The bloody knife glinted in his hand. Cloud placed the knife against his own neck and his blood wept from around the blade.
Stormy eyes snapped to glowing blue ones. The blonde just gave him a small, half-smile.
The knife was guided downwards, cutting through Cloud's worn black shirt easily, slicing into a few layers of flesh in a single, slender line of scarlet. Finally, the blade cut through the last piece of material and the shirt slipped from the blonde's shoulders like a button-up shirt, revealing his smooth muscle and flesh.
The shirt hooked at Cloud's elbows, his whole torso exposed. Taking hold of Leon's hand once again, the blonde moved forward and pressed himself against the brunette, gently kissing him, holding the blade against his neck once again.
"Why are you doing this?" Leon whispered against Cloud's mouth, the blonde's hand fleeing from holding the brunette's up, the knife held just under Cloud's ear. Leon felt the blood leaking from the single, long, vertical cut down the blonde's torso seep into his shirt as Cloud's arms slipped around his middle and linked together at the small of his back.
"I trust you," the blonde mumbled, pressing gentle kisses along Leon's jaw, "not to kill me with that." To emphasise his point, he leant into the blade and the brunette quickly moved it away from where it would've undoubtedly pierced his neck and made him bleed to death.
Sighing, Leon eyed the blonde, who was looking at him with a very mildly smug expression. Raising the blade after a moment, the brunette slowly trailed the tip of the knife down Cloud's cheek, only just slicing into a few layers of skin, blood weeping from the broken flesh. Golden eyelashes fluttered, but Cloud did nothing to stop him.
Leaning forward, Leon pressed his lips against the bleeding skin, the blood clinging to his lips and melting into his mouth. Cloud closed his eyes and pressed closer to him.
On it went.
Cloud allowed Leon to cut him anywhere on his chest, stomach, face, neck or back, trusting him not to slash too deeply, not to make him bleed too much, or to nick any important tendons. After every cut, Leon would press a gentle kiss against the weeping skin, almost apologising for the pain he'd caused.
Eventually, Leon found himself cutting his name into Cloud's spine, the blonde leaning against him, his cheek against his shoulder, his eyelashes fluttering against the brunette's neck. Finishing the 'N' carefully, stormy eyes watched as blood leaked from the slightly deeper gashes.
"Shouldn't you write 'Squall' too?" whispered Cloud against him as Leon's fingers danced over the inflamed skin. The brunette shook his head in reply, and the blonde gently moved away from him; arms still wrapped around him, but chests no longer touching.
Raising a contempt eyebrow, Cloud was about to say something when Leon grazed the blade down his cheek again. Closing his piercing blue eyes, he waited for the blade to puncture his skin.
Instead, he felt warm lips press against the edge of his mouth and the blonde couldn't help but feel relieved. Leon gently grazed his lips down Cloud's jaw and came to a stop against his neck. Sweeping his tongue gently over the flushed skin, he sucked on the flesh directly over the quickening pulse.
Cloud's blue eyes fluttered open at the feeling, but he let them side closed again, burying his nose in the brunette's shoulder. One hickey couldn't do much harm.
In the spare room, Sora yawned, stretching on his small cot. Rubbing his hands at his eyes, the teen rolled onto his side and squinted at the clock hanging on the wall.
Five in the morning, thought Sora. Phooey.
Struggling to his feet and dodging Donald and Goofy's cots, Sora pulled the door open with as little noise as he could and stumbled down the hallway to the kitchen, a shuddering yawn racking through his body. A nice big glass of warm milk will help him sleep for a couple more hours.
Poking his head into the kitchen, Sora's bleary eyes fell upon a topless Leon, standing with his broad back to him, washing something in the sink. The teen rose his eyebrows. What was Leon doing up so early?
The older brunette glanced over his bare shoulder and the teen rose his eyebrows a little higher. "Morning," greeted Leon softly before removing the knife he was washing from under the drizzle of water in the sink, placing it in the drawer for the cutlery before turning off the tap.
"Morning..." mumbled Sora, walking into the kitchen and coming to a stop behind the older man. Leon turned around and rose his eyebrows questioningly at the teen.
The older man's stormy eyes flickered over Sora's head and the teen turned around. He could've sworn someone just disappeared down the hallway, but he only saw a smudge of black and white, and he didn't hear anything. A large hand dropped onto the teen's head and he looked back at Leon, eyes wide with curiosity.
Giving Sora a quick good-natured smile, Leon let his hand drop from the teen's head and he slipped out of the kitchen; padding down the hallway Cloud had disappeared down just after Sora had appeared. Thank god for that blonde and his ungodly hearing. Plucking his blood-smeared shirt from being hooked on his door-handle by Cloud and slipping into his room, the brunette rose a hand to trace the perfectly healed skin on his neck.
A confused scowl melted onto Sora's face as he stared at the doorway leading to the hallway. What was going on? They had a haunted kitchen? After a moment of complete and utter confusion, the thought of warm milk clicked back into his little mind and the possibility of a ghost flew out the window.
As Sora passed the sink, however, he couldn't help but be able to smell the strong, metallic stench of blood.
((TBC. Yes, I'm still working on the chapter coming after this, but, I thought I should update. This chapter wasn't supposed to be so emotional, but the music I was listening to changed the mood without my permission. Enjoy. I have discovered I like writing knife-play. The next chapter will, hopefully, be up in four days time, or maybe earlier. It's being very unhelpful and inconvenient. Read and enjoy.))