Well, I'm back. Didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted but things were… intense.

Chapter 3: Heart-Shaped Box

The next three days went by smoothly. Riku turned out to be an excellent worker, and even Cloud seemed a bit more motivated. If nothing else, Riku managed to keep him from complaining too much. All Riku had to do was look at him, offer a light touch and any loud protests from Cloud seemed to die.

It almost made up for the interrupted sleep.

Truth be told, they really weren't as loud as everyone teased them to be. They didn't wake Leon from sleep in the middle of the night. It was lying in his bed, trying to fall asleep, and hearing it that was the problem. He tried to tune it out, but for whatever reason, all he could do was stare at the ceiling until the couple next door wore themselves out.

"Finish early again?" Riku asked over his shoulder, dicing up potatoes.

"Your boyfriend's suddenly motivated to finish his work." Leon took a water from the fridge. "Something about quality time and not liking to be separated for too long."

Riku shook his head. "I keep telling him I'm not going anywhere."

"He's paranoid."

"I know." Riku laughed quietly. "He seems to think if he doesn't stay close, someone's going to steal me away. Who the hell would want me and all my baggage?"

Leon's mouth was open before he knew it, "Who wouldn't want you?"

Riku turned and smirked at him. "Okay, yeah I'm sexy as hell and all, but come on…I'm a total nutcase. I think the only reason Cloud's with me is because he's just as fucked up as I am."

Leon felt the smile trying to form. He shrugged and turned away. That was…odd.

"Is there any garlic around here?"

Without a word, Leon retrieved the requested item. He handed it over but didn't move away. He watched the teen expertly peel off the outer layer and mince the small bulb. "Where'd you learn all this?"

"My mom mostly. My grandma taught me to bake." The potato and garlic were dropped into a frying pan. "I always liked cooking. Despise all other housework."

"Sounds like me." Leon slowly backed away. He returned to his spot along the wall, eyes focusing once again on the boy.

"I guess cooking is still manly enough to be okay." Riku laughed again. "Cloud keeps claiming I'm the girl in our relationship, but I can do a ton more than he can. At least I can use tools."

"And you don't whine nearly as much as he does."

"I don't whine," Cloud stated flatly from the doorway, a slight frown on his face.

"Of course you don't, love. You simply log your formal protest in the most obnoxious way possible."

Leon snerked, a gloved hand coming up to hide his smile.

The blonde pouted. "You know, I didn't introduce you two so you could gang up on me."

Riku glanced over, "Well that was your mistake."

"One point for Riku."

Cloud whacked Leon in the chest as he came to peer over Riku's shoulder. "You know you really don't have to do this. You've cooked every night."

"Already tried to tell him that. He doesn't seem to believe me either."

Riku sighed heavily and waved the spatula in his hand. "I like doing this, okay? Jeez."

"Oh, look out Cloud. Riku's really good at using those things as weapons!" Sora warned as he too entered the kitchen. "Whoa, kinda crowded."

"Yes." Riku agreed. "Now all of you get the hell out of my kitchen."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Your kitchen?"

"Yes, my kitchen." He bopped Cloud on the head with the spatula and pointed toward the door. "This will be ready in about five minutes. The table better be set."

Sora chuckled. "Better do what he says, guys."

"Leon can stay and help me. You other two scram."

"Why does Leon get to stay?" Cloud didn't whine, but he certainly was pouting.

"Because he won't distract me." Riku smirked, placing a firm kiss on those pouting lips. "Now get."

Dinner went as smoothly as it had the other nights, and this time it was Sora who took dish duty. The other three sat around the front room, Leon in the far chair by the bookcase, with Cloud and Riku on the couch, Riku's head on the blonde's lap. Said blonde fingered silver hair, making Riku's eyes droop.

Leon watched them for a moment, then turned in his seat to look for a book.

"Tomorrow's the weekend," Cloud commented softly.

"Yeah?" Riku murmured.

"That means everyone has the day off."

Riku opened his eyes, twisting to look up. "Really? We should do something. All of us."

"Like what?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just visiting remember?"

"The park is finished." Leon stated, selecting a tome. He turned back on his seat. "There's a nice picnic area by the river."

"A picnic sounds nice. What part of the river is it at?"

"Near the falls."

"It's warm enough for us to go swimming," Riku thought aloud. "There aren't too many rocks, and it's more of a pool if it's the spot I'm thinking of."

Cloud looked like he was about to ask a question but thought better of it, "Never mind."

"Never mind what?"

"I was going to ask how you knew that."

Riku smirked, but it was Leon who actually spoke, "Forgot that he lived here for a while, did you?"

Cloud frowned. Riku reached up and caressed the man's jaw. "It's all right. I still love you even though you forget all the details."

Cloud glared down but there was nothing behind it. It disappeared the moment the teenager smiled. Leon watched this interaction with detached interest.

"Okay." Sora suddenly bounded into the room. "What's the deal for tomorrow?"

"We're going on a picnic." Riku declared more than answered. "All four of us and whoever else you think we should invite. I still haven't met Aerith or Yuffie."

"What?" Sora exclaimed in shock. He fixed his gaze on Cloud. "Okay, I can see Yuffie but why hasn't he met Aerith yet?"

The blonde shrugged. "She's been with Tifa. They don't come back until tomorrow."

"Oh." That shut him up.

"So we invite them along. And I really like Cid, we should have him come too." Riku listed off.

"Then we have to invite Yuffie." Leon sighed. "There's no way we can leave her out."

"She isn't that bad." Sora assured Riku as the silver-haired one looked to Leon, noting the resigned tone of the man's voice. "She and Leon just have personality issues."

Riku studied the older man a minute. "Which means we probably won't get along either."

Leon met his eyes for a second before returning his attention to the book in his hands. He only snorted his agreement. Riku would likely have the exact same issues with the girl as he did. They were very alike.

"Any idea when Aerith and Tifa should be back?" Riku turned his face back up to Cloud. One hand had come up and was kneading at the man's thigh.

His boyfriend stared at that hand for a moment. "Sometime in the morning."

"Okay, so we plan to have the picnic early afternoon and spend the day at the river." He shifted a bit so that his head was closer to Cloud's body. His hand was still in position. "That'll give me plenty of time to make something."

Sora rolled his eyes, finally realizing what was going on over on the sofa. "Jeeze, get a room."

"They have a room." Leon commented flatly, face still aimed toward his book but those grey eyes were on the sofa. "I think they just like putting on a show."

"If you want a show, Leon." Riku smirked, sitting up and managing to straddle Cloud's lap. "We could give you one."

"I don't like to watch."

"Too bad." Riku ran a finger along Cloud's ear. The blonde shuddered.

"I'm outta here." Sora was blushing a furious shade of pink. "See you guys in the morning."

"I think we should head off too, shouldn't we?" Riku asked the one beneath him who had now thrown his head back slightly.

"Humm?" Cloud glanced at Leon, who was intently reading. "Uh, yeah."

They stood and left the room, Riku in the lead. "Night, Leon."

The sable haired man mumbled something without looking up. Once they were gone, he sighed and leaned his head against the chair back. Why had that been so… irritating? He'd been around the two of them long enough now that these little displays weren't uncommon.

He returned to his book. He figured he had about an hour before he could sleep.

Leon was only slightly surprised to find Riku already up and in the kitchen. It wasn't that early and he had already figured out that the teen wasn't much for sleeping in. Yet another thing they had in common.

"Hey." He was cracking eggs into a bowl with just a touch of milk in it. Judging from the side of bacon, he was making scrambled eggs. "Sora's in the shower. He's gonna go find everyone after breakfast."

Leon nodded, getting himself some coffee. He brushed past the other, earning a curious look. He didn't bother to acknowledge it and poured his cup. Taking his first sip, he stared down at the mug. "You made this, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No wonder Cloud's suddenly addicted to the stuff. This is damn good. What do you do to it?"

"I hate plain coffee so I always add flavoring to it. That's hazelnut."

"Damn. This is way better than the swill I make."

"All you do is add a tablespoon of whatever flavoring you want to the grounds." Riku sounded completely stunned that Leon was making such a deal out of this. "It's isn't hard."

"I just never thought it made that much of a difference. Coffee's coffee." Leon leaned against the counter. "In Garden, coffee came one way, black."

Riku shuddered. "Cloud said the same thing about Shinra. Unless you were one of the higher ups, everything was as plain and generic as they could make it."

"Thank Shiva for Zack." The blonde appeared in the kitchen, yawning. He looked like he had literally rolled out of bed. His sleep pants were twisted up and his t-shirt hiked up revealing a good two inches of his waist. "He used to talk Sephiroth out of the nice stuff and sneak it in to me."

"Yeah, boyfriend's are good for that." Riku reached out to run his hand along Cloud's exposed abs.

The older of the pair stepped closer and nuzzled into Riku's neck. "That almost done?"

"Yes." Riku pushed him away a bit. "Then I've got to get started on the stuff for the picnic. With everyone coming, that's gonna take awhile."

"I can help."

The teen laughed. "Sweetheart, you'd only slow me down. Besides, I've already got Leon."

The scarred man frowned. "I don't remember volunteering."

"You didn't." Riku turned and batted his eyelashes. "But I know you want to."

A smile threatened to show itself. "Nothing more I want in the worlds than to help you."

"You love me." He laughed, removing the eggs from the skillet. The bacon was about finished and he took about half out. "I don't know about you two but I like my bacon almost black. Sora likes it kinda chewy."

"I hate too crispy bacon." Cloud made a face. "Leon practically burns it."

"So do I."

"It's starting to freak me out a little how much the two of you have in common." Cloud commented, eyeing his boyfriend and best friend warily. "Maybe you two should be going out."

"But I don't want to go out with Leon." Riku retorted with fake patience. He quickly glanced at Leon. "No offence, or anything. You're a sexy guy and all but I don't think you're my type."

"None taken." Why did that feel forced? "I already told you I wasn't into guys."

"Whoa, what did I walk into?" Sora came to an abrupt halt, damp spikes bouncing a little.

"I'm trying to get Leon to join our orgy later today but he's not going for it." Riku replied easily, handing the boy the plate of food he just put together.

"Oh," Sora stated absently as he stared hungrily at the plate. Suddenly, he blinked. "Wait, what?"

Riku ruffled the brunette's hair affectionately. "Nothing, Sora. Go eat."

The Keybearer bounded off to the table. Riku shook his head and set up another plate for Cloud. Once he took it he removed the last of the bacon, splitting it between himself and Leon. "And now that that's done, we figure out the rest of the day."

Once breakfast was eaten and cleared away, Sora bolted out the door to locate people. Cloud was sent off to find various supplies for the afternoon outing. This left Riku and Leon alone in the kitchen, pouring over what they wanted to make.

After pulling out nearly half the contents of the fridge, they set to work. They kept relatively quiet, somehow forming a harmony to their actions. The lack of conversation felt natural to them both and they were comfortable.

Cloud returned about a half hour later, grumbling about having to have gone next door and borrowing most of the supplies. Riku only nodded sympathetically and Leon told him to get over it. Shooting them both dirty looks, the blonde left the kitchen to clean out the basket, which had been in storage.

Sora darted in past him, an excited grin on his face. He was slightly out of breath. "They're all coming!"

"Good." Riku looked rather pleased.

"Aerith said she's going to bring strawberries! Have you ever had strawberries, Riku?"

The silvered one shook his head.

"Oh, they're sooo good!" Sora leaned on the counter. "Leon loves strawberries."

Riku flicked his eyes over the sable haired man. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to try them then."

Leon met the gaze but said nothing. Something in the back of his head noted that he'd been sharing a lot of looks with the older teen. It shouldn't have been surprising considering all they had in common but something was tugging at his consciousness in warning.

"Hey Sora, go find out if Cloud managed to find a cooler." Riku began wrapping sandwiches in plastic. "And bring back the basket."

"Gotcha."

"You almost done with that?"

Leon blinked. He hadn't realized he had been staring. "Yeah, I'm done."

About halfway to the site, the four guys met up with Cid. He grumbled something about how adolescent this was, tossing away his cigarette butt. He informed them that the girls had gone ahead and Riku needed to be prepared for an ambush. Then he broke off from them to go to the liquor store.

Riku was extremely thankful for the heads up. No sooner had they arrived then he was literally attacked by a petite girl with jet-black hair. She latched on to his arm and looked him over with a critical eye. "Oh my gosh, you are totally hot!"

"So I hear." He replied calmly. "You must be Yuffie."

"Whatever they said about me is completely untrue!" She instantly defended herself. "Especially Squall!"

A fist bopped her on the head. "It's Leon, you little twit."

Riku tilted his head a bit to regard the older man. "Is Squall your real name?"

"Yes." He glared at the girl who was skipping over to Sora. "I never should have told any of them."

"I like it." Riku said decidedly. "Squall. It fit's you."

He turned to join up with Cloud who was setting things up with woman in pink. Leon watched him for a moment as he was introduced to Aerith before shaking himself of it and going over himself. The woman smiled at him for a second then went back to Riku.

"This was a wonderful idea, Riku. It isn't often that we all get to just relax for a few hours." Aerith laid out a blanket. There was a table set off toward the trees but apparently they were going for the traditional picnic setting. "I haven't done this in years."

"Zack was really into picnics." Cloud commented, settling on the grass.

"Was he?" Riku sat down beside him. He leaned against Cloud's shoulder and took his hand.

"Yeah. We went nearly every week."

Aerith giggled. "And those times Cloud couldn't go, I went."

"What about you, Leon?" Riku looked up. "You ever do the picnic thing before now?"

Cid had finally shown up with chilled beer and handed one to Leon as he passed. Leon took a long drink before answering. "A couple. Rinoa thought they were romantic."

Riku clearly wanted to know who Rinoa was but a brief nudge from Cloud kept him quiet. Sora and Yuffie bounded over, both barefoot. They dropped down on the other end of the blanket and were into the food before their butts hit ground.

"Aren't we missing one?" Riku frowned.

"Tifa will be here in a few." Cid explained, taking the plate Aerith handed him. "She needed to check in at the bar."

"She works at the bar?"

"She owns the bar." Cloud corrected. Plates were passed to him and Riku.

"Where are you two's shoes?" Leon asked, studying Sora and Yuffie.

"Over there somewhere." Sora nodded his head toward the river. "We were checking out the water. It's really nice."

"Good." Riku grinned. "We're teaching these guys to blitz."

Sora's blue eyes lit up. "Ooh, yeah. We'll have to mod it some though."

The pair started rambling on about alterations to some complicated sounding game they had played back home. Cloud half paid attention, totally focused on Riku. Leon watched also but with less focus. The teenagers just seemed so full of life at the moment, carrying on animatedly.

A tall, raven haired woman joined up with them at some point taking a keen interest in Riku. After the quick introduction of Tifa, Riku had become the subject of her rather intense grilling. He seemed prepared for it, however, and by the end she was clearly satisfied with his answers.

Food was consumed along with a fair amount of beer. After a few more minutes of conversing, Riku and Sora got to their feet. Yuffie immediately followed. Riku nudged Cloud. "Come on."

"No."

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun, I promise."

"I don't swim."

"You don't have to." Sora had stripped down to his bare shorts and Yuffie was down to her shorts and tank top. Both were already in the water waiting. "See? Even they can stand in it."

"I don't have the right clothes."

"So go in your boxers." Riku pouted. "You knew I wanted to swim"

"And you can go ahead and do that." Cloud smirked. "I'll just watch your sexy little body from here."

"Cloud."

"All right, if you can convince Leonheart there to go in, so will I." Cloud looked rather smug, figuring he had already won this battle.

Riku stared down at him then turned on his heel. He rounded over to where Leon sat and dropped to his knees beside him. "Leon, what will it take to get you in the water?"

Leon gave him a sidelong look, fighting the odd shudder that wanted to come over him at that question. Those aqua eyes gazed steadily at him, almost teasingly. He had a sudden desire to tell the other he'd do anything he asked.

"Depends on what you're willing to offer."

Riku grinned wickedly, glancing at Cloud. He leaned in and soft breath whispered against Leon's ear. Leon was up as soon as the words were said. He slipped off his jacket and kicked off his boots. "Come on, Strife."

Cloud stood, stunned expression in place. "What in the hell did he promise you?"

Riku laughed, stripping down to his boxers. Yuffie and Tifa both whistled and the teen strutted arrogantly toward the water. Aerith watched this all with a happy smile and Cid rolled his eyes pretending to ignore the whole thing.

Thankfully, Leon had gone for comfort today and was wearing a looser pair of leather. On the odd chance he got convinced into the water, he also had boxers on. He made a note to himself that if Riku and Sora were going to be sticking around, they needed to invest in swimwear.

"Damn, Leon." Tifa ran an appraising eye over him. "I thought it was just the leather but you're sexy as hell without it."

"Whatever." He waved the compliment off but a small smile tugged at his lip. He approached the water, noticing that Yuffie's jaw was completely open. Sora seemed jealous, self-consciously wrapping an arm around his own scrawny waist.

Riku, however, was openly eyeing him with appreciation. "He's on my team."

"Hey!" Sora protested. "Then I get Cloud."

The silver haired one seemed genuinely conflicted. Then Cloud entered the water. He caught sight of the slight build and toned muscle and a rather hungry glint came to his eyes. With a mock sigh, he conceded. "Fine, Sora you can have Leon."

"Yes!" Sora shouted.

"Doesn't he have an unfair advantage?" Cloud commented, wadding toward his lover.

"Nope. Both he and Tidus couldn't handle me." Riku had a rubber ball in hand.

Once the modified rules of blitzball were explained, they started and within an hour both Leon and Yuffie seemed to have a really good handle on the game. Cloud however just wasn't getting it. Another half-hour and they let him give up.

Riku gave him a little smile like one would give a child who tried and failed to do what should have been a simple task. Cloud didn't seem to overly care though as he left the water, dripping and sat with Aerith and Tifa. Cid had left them a bit ago.

The game restarted in earnest, Yuffie joining up with Riku. The teams were rather evenly matched but in the end Riku pulled of a spectacular steal from Leon and hit the final goal. He ended up on top of the older man in the shallow water in the process. Green eyes bore into grey with triumph.

Leon quickly shoved him off, writing off the slightly breathless feeling he suddenly had to Riku's rather aggressive hit. He looked to Sora who was nearly screaming at his loss and was trying to get the three on the grass to believe Riku had somehow cheated.

"Oh come on!" He stomped a foot in the water, causing it to splash up. "That totally wasn't fair!"

"Looked fair to me." Tifa shrugged.

"Don't be a sore looser, Sora." Yuffie grinned obnoxiously.

Leon ignored all of this and decided it was time to get out of the water. He dropped next to Cloud in time to see Sora tackle Riku, barely managing to get the taller teen under water. He came back up, a malicious grin on his face. Sora eeped and immediately began high-tailing away.

Grey eyes tracked the older of the pair's every movement.

"Leon." Tifa snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"What?"

"You totally zoned out there." She laughed. "I said I hired that guy you sent over. I think he'll do very well."

Leon nodded, attention drawn back to the two fighting in the water. Riku was laughing loudly along with Sora despite the rather vicious moves they were enacting against each other. One could get used to the sound of Riku's laugh.

Cloud nudged him, again pulling his focus away. "So just what did Riku promise you?"

He had dried out surprisingly fast in the humidity and he stood, reclaiming his clothes from where Aerith had folded them up. Once the pants were on, he glanced at his blonde best friend as he picked up his boots. "You'll have to take that up with him."

"That bad, huh?" Tifa chuckled. "You're totally screwed, Cloud."

"Not for the next two days." Leon muttered feeling oddly happy about the statement. "I'm out of here."

He headed off, pausing at the tree lined path. He glanced over his shoulder, watching sunlight glint off of wet silver hair and frowned. He wasn't sure what was happening with him but he knew it couldn't be good.

He turned and rather than follow the path out he ducked through the trees. He had some things to think about.