Disclaimer: All characters, most places and things, etc. belong to Square-Enix and Disney or whatever. I don't own anything, so don't sue me, okay?

Chapter Three
New World

The first part of Leon's body that woke that morning was his nose. He was roused by the scent of alluring food, and the spring morning air, half an hour before he needed to be awake. He lay in his bed for a while, staring at the bumps in his ceiling, and dismissed the smell as an illusion brought forth from his empty stomach.

He got up, heading for the shower to get ready for work, and focused his mind away from the food.

Twenty minutes later, Leon was ready, and the scent was stronger than ever. He cleaned up, making sure everything was neat and in order, until he could deny his protesting stomach no longer. He left the room to investigate the smell.

He walked down the hall, descended the stairs, and stopped in front of the kitchen where the scent seemed to be coming from. He entered, eyes widening in surprise at the sight before him. Set on the table were dishes that looked as if they had been pulled right off the pages of a cookbook.

Every breakfast food one could possibly crave was beautifully displayed, putting to use things Leon didn't even know he had.

Cloud turned from his place at the sink, putting away the last pan.

"Good morning Leon. I made breakfast!" he exclaimed, smiling.

Leon's eyes went from Cloud, to the table, and back.

"Wow…"

Cloud sat down, "Take a seat! Try!" and Leon obeyed.

"Where'd you learn this?"

"I found three cookbooks and went from there."

Under the blonde's hopeful gaze, he sampled the meal, taking his time chewing. Cloud began to fidget impatiently.

"It's good." Leon said finally.

Cloud beamed, picking up his own fork, and Leon couldn't help but smile- but quickly disguised it behind a cough.

"I read a lot of books last night. Humans are a lot more interesting than they seem."

Leon nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "If you run out of books to read, there's a library two streets down that you can go to. It's a really big, old building; you can't miss it. It's always empty, so you can go there to read in peace too."

Cloud smiled. "Maybe we should stop by today?"

Leon shook his head. "You can, but I have to go to work."

"Work?" Cloud asked, "Like building railroads and stuff?"

"Not quite- at the video store we passed. Remember, Riku pointed it out?"

Leon saw the blonde's face fall.

"Oh…" Cloud said softly. "I forgot."

Leon sighed at the look on the blonde's face. It was almost enough to make him say something, but one look at the clock told him he needed to leave.

"I'll be home at five. How about we meet in the park at one for lunch?"

And Cloud was smiling again. "Sure."

Leon stood awkwardly for a moment, unable to find any words, or actions, to convey the feeling that had overwhelmed him at the moment. He settled for a deep breath and a pat on the other man's shoulder as he walked past him to the door.

For the first time, in all his working life, Leon was having a hard time leaving his house.

'Weird.'

-----

Riku hummed to himself as he put away the month's few files. An upside of barely having any business was having barely any paperwork. A weekend's rest, and two cups of coffee later, his attitude was upbeat and optimistic.

He burst through the back doors and into the front of the shop.

"Good Mor- whoa."

He stopped, staring at the glum faces of his two employees.

The air was thick and heavy, weighing them down. Leon stood behind the counter, elbows on it, leaning his chin on his hand, and glaring at the door that hadn't opened at all that day. Sora sat cross-legged in one of the aisles, dusting off rows of movies lazily, as if his limbs were sticks of jelly. Every two movies he let out a pathetic sigh.

"Oh come on! What's this? Look alive! How are we going to get any customers with workers dead like this? Where's Yuffie? She'd have energy."

Sora shrugged, not even turning to look at him.

All three men perked up as the bell on top of the door rang, signaling an entrance. A young man in his early twenties approached the counter, and Riku put on his award-winning business-smile.

"Good morning Sir! How may we serve you today?"

"Huh?" the man asked, having momentarily lost himself in an ancient Misery poster. "Oh yeah- do you guys have change for a fifty?"

Riku's smile changed to clenched teeth, going from charming to scary in the blink of an eye and struggling to keep a scowl off his face. He turned to Leon.

"I don't even think there's fifty dollars in the register," Leon said, crossing his arms.

The man sighed. "All right then," and was gone.

Riku could feel himself deflating until he was just the empty elastic of a video store owner, sprawled out on the counter.

"I should've been a doctor," he mumbled.

----

"Work," Cloud said, testing out the words as he packed away his and Leon's lunch. "Job. Occupation."

It was still early, but he wanted to check out the library that Leon had described to him. A building filled with books and books; he felt the blood rushing to his face just thinking about it. He grabbed their lunches and headed out the front door, sighing contently as he was met with a cool spring breeze.

'Such nice weather…if only Leon didn't need to work,' he thought, walking up the block slowly and taking in the scenery. He stopped every so often to examine a building, a bench, or a tree.

The streets were all but deserted; an old woman feeding the birds here, a group of college students frequenting a café there.

"Everyone must be at work," he said out loud, looking at the huge clock in the center of the square.

He arrived at the library faster than he expected to, unable to miss it, just like Leon had said. It was huge, an aging Romanesque building with beautiful windows stained with scenes from various pieces of literature. It was then, upon examining those windows, that he saw the small "Help Wanted" sign located in the corner of the front door's window.

He felt a smile pull at his lips. 'If I worked, I could help Leon pay for some of the things we need, and learn more about humans.'

And with that, he pushed the front doors open.

----

Leon glared at the clock, urging the second hand forward. Idleness in such large doses could not be good for anyone's mind.

'Maybe that's why Yuffie's the way she is,' he thought. 'Where is Yuffie anyway?'

He wouldn't admit it anywhere outside of his own mind, but without the young girl around, things were dull. So dull it was driving him insane.

The clock finally reached one, and he quickly left from behind the counter.

"I'm taking lunch," he said.

Riku nodded, and Sora merely shuffled pathetically to occupy the spot Leon had forsaken.

He clocked out, and left the small shop, taking a deep breath to enjoy his temporary freedom. He quickly crossed the street, using all of his self-control to keep him from sprinting away from the video store. He reached the park, narrowing his eyes as he did a quick scan of the area for his roommate.

He quickly spotted blonde spikes protruding from a nearby bush. Leon walked over to find Cloud crouching by the pond, watching several ducks swim by.

"Hey," Leon said.

Cloud smiled, standing up. "Hey Leon, how's work?"

"Don't ask," Leon mumbled, taking a seat on the grass.

"Hard work?" Cloud asked, unpacking their lunch.

"No work," and Leon sighed.

Cloud took a deep breath as he watched the brunette eat. "I want a job."

Leon promptly began to choke. "Why would you possibly want that?" he asked, taking a gulp of water to save himself.

"I want to work," Cloud replied, smiling.

"Why? You don't need to do that."

"Yes I do! I'm a human now, and humans work to pay for bills and food and clothes and to meet new people."

Leon was quiet for a moment, carefully chewing his food to prevent a repeat of the earlier episode. He sighed. Cloud was right, and he did have to live like a normal human now. 'Who am I to tell him not to? Not like I can support us both on my salary.'

"But what would you do?" Leon asked, sounding a bit more skeptical than he wanted to.

Cloud's grin broadened as he pulled out an application he had picked up from the library earlier. "Everyone there was really nice. The head librarian already took the help wanted sign out of the window. She says I can start tomorrow, but they need the application for their files."

Leon looked at the application, shaking his head. "I suppose…if that's what you want."

"YAY!" the blond exclaimed, latching onto the other in a hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Leon pushed the blonde away, blushing madly.

He coughed. "Uh…guys don't do that in public places…erm…at all…or…yeah."

Cloud pulled back. "What do we do then?"

Leon thought, trying to find the appropriate gesture, and then he put out his hand. Cloud looked at him quizzically.

"We shake hands."

"Oh, okay then." the blond said, grabbing the brunette's hand and shaking vigorously. Several minutes of this passed, until Leon thought his eyes would rattle all the way behind his brain.

"Uh…Cloud?" he said.

"Yes Leon?" Cloud asked, still shaking.

"You can stop now."

---

a|n: edited May 25, 2009