Signed Sealed Delivered - Chapter 5

Main Pairing: Leon x Cloud

Warning: Male x Male Relationships, harsh language, AU, major OOC,

A/N: Uuuhh… I think I have changed Leon into a total pervert in this fict… Sorry

And about Zack. I know he shouldn't be in this fict, at least not in KH category, but I don't have the right idea to make it a crossover fict, and his character is just what I need for the story development. Sorry again. I put him as an OC. Don't worry, other KH characters will show up later.

Don't flame me, please. It won't get me anywhere. Critiques and advices are much more appreciated.

The only good thing - correction, the best, and the greatest thing in his rundown apartment (according to Riku) was the shower. Yes, the shower. Though there was no luxurious bubbled Jacuzzi or even a small bath tub in the tiny so called bathroom, the shower alone compensated for everything that this rundown apartment (according to Riku) lacked.

The temperature, the water splashing, it truly was a heaven on earth. He almost forgot about his little sanctuary the apartment building kept safe for him. Every time he showered, it was like his entire burden streamed down the drain automatically. Even he wouldn't dare to bother him in the shower. Cloud would protect this last bastion with all his might.

Or so he thought…

Zack cheerfully climbed the apartment building stairs, holding a brown groceries bag in his left arm and a plastic bag in his right hand. Today Cloud would make dinner for them. Cloud happily agreed to cook as long as Zack bought all the ingredients they needed. He wrote down everything he had to buy this afternoon and gave it to Zack. That meant Cloud could save some money too, even though on the other hand, Zack complained a bit about the extra money he had to spend when he was trying to save money for the sports car of his dream.

But be that as it may, but Zack loved Cloud's cooking very much. The car could wait, but his hungry stomach couldn't.

He walked down the corridor to the usual pace, just then he halted a few feet from Cloud's apartment's door. There is an unfamiliar brunette man greeting him,

"You are…Zack Fair?" he asked in a confident tone.

The raven haired man blinked in question.

Back in this heavenly shower, Cloud put both of his hands against the wall while the hot water streaming over his head and soaked his naked body. His right hand reached up to his locks whenever they begin to bother his eyes because of the water flow, tucking them back behind his ear.

Cloud heard a sound of a key and then the sound of the door being opened in the front room. He had unchained it before. It must be Zack, he guessed. He'd promised to cook dinner for him this afternoon. Cloud had given him a spare key to his apartment in case of emergencies or if he just wanted to come over anytime; although Zack was not the kind of person to just barge into someone else's home on a whim without good reason.

"Cloud! Where are you?"

"In the shower!" The blond answered in a loud voice through the sound of the streaming water.

"I'll put the groceries on the kitchen table!"

"Okay!"

Weird. He thought he could vaguely hear Zack talking to someone else. Unfortunately he couldn't be sure whose voice it was due to the shower's noise. Who? Aerith? Had she come here with him too? It wasn't unusual, though she would sometimes visit him either together with Zack or by herself to help him manage the house. After all Zack always said that Cloud was like his own younger brother and he really liked Cloud very much, so Aerith said that Zack's precious person was precious to her too.

'A brother, huh, I should be satisfied with that.' His mind's floating, the water now felt like a thousand needles hammering his skull. A second later, he came to and thudded his head against the wall in frustration. "Hey, wait a minute! What was I thinking?!"

"Well, in my personal opinion, I think you look good."

'Huh?' He straightened his head, eyes blinking incredulously. A strangely familiar voice scattered his thoughts, and moreover, he suddenly felt insecure from the tone of it.

"The complexion, muscle tightness, the butt line,"

'Eh?' Cloud's vein was twitching at the last word. He knew whose voice that was.

"Perfect. Just my type."

"Wha-…"

Now, not only horror, but amplified anger could be seen on Cloud's face as the blond slowly turned his head to the door way. A misty figure of a certain man he was trying to avoid with all his might, stood leisurely right in front of the opened shower door.

Cloud's face was burning in rage, embarrassment and disbelief. His eyes widened, and his lips trembled as he shouted, "Wha-… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, FUCKER?!"

Aah, one nasty word he'd learned from the infamous potty mouthed Axel which finally got its chance to be exclaimed loudly. And Cloud did remember where his tightened fists and kicks landed.

"Uwah, Cloud. You're brutal!"

Zack threw an ice pack he took from the freezer with a loud 'Here!' to the now-bruised brunette man. He grimaced as if he was the one who was in pain himself. "Ugh… I'm just so glad that it's not me who was there." He said again as he narrowed his eyes while checking a bluish bruise on Leon's left cheek.

"You bet." Leon uttered. The ice pack helped a little, but his cheek still felt like it was burning. Luckily he had dodged a bit earlier from the blonde's hard kick and it eventually landed on his poor thigh. If he'd dodged just a second later, it would have been serious damage to his upper thigh. Being a dan 2 in karate sure is valuable at those kinds of times.

Cloud still had a scowl on his face since he'd literally thrown Leon out of the bathroom. He was now dressed in a plain yellow T-shirt and a pair of washed jeans, but he strangely felt like he was still naked thanks to the earlier unexpected event. "And who said you could go peeking in the shower, huh?!" He snarled.

"I wasn't peeking, I was just-" Leon answered casually, a contented smile that clearly pissed the blond off even further for he knew what this man was going to say next. Cloud harshly chopped up a carrot with a sharp knife, the loud sounds it emitted made the other two men jump instinctively,

"Huuh? What were you saying?" He growled creepily; taking up the gleaming knife in front of his face with a threatening look.

"Uwaah, Cloud, what's your problem?" Zack got up from his seat, a surprised look on his face. After all this was the first time he'd seen Cloud look murderous like this. Cloud pointed the knife at the bruised brunet across the table, shouting "He's the one who's got the problem here! Peeking at another guy showering, like a maniac."

"Like I said, I wasn't peek-"

"You say that you weren't peeking, but you just wanted to look at me in the nude in the shower, right?! Then shut that freaking mouth!" Cloud cut in fiercely.

"You're wrong." Said the brunet in defense, "Well, in the end that's what happened, just as you said, but at first-"

Cloud rolled his eyes in deep irritation, he couldn't stand it. "Why you?"

"Cloud, I was the one who asked him to call you actually." The raven haired man suddenly cut in, preventing the upcoming carnage with a kitchen knife. The blond stared at him deeply in question, "Huh?" He turned to the brunet who said "I told you." with a light shrug.

"Huh?!"

Finally confessing, Zack spoke up. "You see, we have fish here." He pointed to some herrings wrapped up with now-melted ice cubes in a plastic wrapper on the kitchen counter. "And the market place is kinda far from here, you see the ice?! I thought that if we waited a little longer, the fish would go bad, so I asked him to call you." He continued with an innocent smile on his face.

Cloud froze. What's with this? Should he chew Zack out too?

"Haah…" The blond sighed, looking much more exhausted to the smiling man. "Then why didn't you just put them in the freezer until I'd finished my shower?"

A thread's snapping sound of realization could be heard in Zack's head. He thudded his right fist into his left palm. "Oh! You're right. Hahaha. I forgot."

As much as he wanted to chew Zack out for luring Leon to the bathroom, this innocent reaction from Zack had shown him was too much to handle with anger, in the end Cloud just let out a light chuckle from his mouth. "You're stupid, Zack."

Suddenly the air relaxed with Cloud's laughter and mockery of Zack's stupidity. Zack laughed loudly and defended his innocence, totally relaxing the atmosphere after the earlier intense air they had in the room.

But unfortunately not for Leon. He was clearly not only uncomfortable, but jealous. Jealous was the right word for what he felt right then towards the scene before him. Just what did this ordinary black haired guy do to make Cloud laugh so congenially like that? And the fact that this man had a spare key to Cloud's apartment. Was there another word to precisely describe what he truly felt besides jealousy?

If he went back and listed everything that he had done to the blond, well, he couldn't really find a good one. But he definitely wouldn't like it if he just let this cute chocobo get taken by an unknown crow. On the other hand, he didn't know what to do to break down this atmosphere; he could only stare at them in irritation.

It was a couple of minutes, the pleasant air hanging in the room, before Cloud realized Leon's glare and his expression turned stern. He asked, "By the way, Zack, how do you know that guy over there?"

"That guy? Oh, you mean Leon?" Zack captured the brunette to his right of the table, but seemed unaware of the sharp glare addressed directly to him.

"I just met him earlier in front of your apartment."

Cloud stood still, "Earlier? In front of my room?" asked him. 'What did he want?'

#Earlier#

"You are…Zack Fair?" said in a confident tone.

The raven haired man blinked in question.

"Ah, sorry. I just moved here not long ago. I'm Leon. I live in the apartment beside Cloud's, over there." Leon said again while pointed to the door of his room.

Zack opened his eyes wider, "Oh! You're Cloud's neighbor?! …Sorry." He said as he showed his hands were full with grocery bags and couldn't reach out his hand for a handshake.

"It's okay. Are you perhaps going to meet up with Cloud?"

"Yeah. He promised to make our dinner today."

The brunet responded in a rather low voice like there was something he'd just came up in his head, "Oh. So he can cook too…"

Seeing that, Zack made a conclusion, "Do you want to join us Leon?"

"Can I?" Leon asked artificially doubtful, but Zack hadn't realize it.

"Of course. I bought an extra portion just in case anyway. Cloud is a nice kid, he won't mind it if you join us. The more the merrier right?! Just think of it as your welcome party."

"Hmh.. You're right." Leon said with a couple of slight nods. "It's a good chance." He mumbled lowly.

"Huh? You say something?" Zack asked as he walked passed Leon to Cloud's apartment's door.

Leon jerked his head from his shallow thoughts, "No. Nothing."

Zack turned his body to the brunette and offered the plastic bag in his right hand to him, "If you don't mind, Leon. Could you please hold this for a while? I get to the key in my pocket."

After Leon took the plastic bag, he asked the other about his earlier statement that piqued his interest, "A key?"

"Cloud gave me the spare key to his apartment just in case of an emergency. Besides he lives alone, so we should help each other, right. I've known him since he moved to this place. Ah, but I don't live in this building. I have a workshop not far from here; you can visit there when you have time. I'm almost always at my workshop." Zack explained in detail, the sound of a key jiggling from the key hole. The door opened and he beckoned the other through; a vague sound of a shower could be heard from the back room.

"Come in. How did you get to know Cloud, Leon? Co-worker?"

"No." Leon answered, his head shook lightly. "Well, it's pretty much related to work though. I've not know him long. I found him living in this apartment building."

"Hee… Wait a sec. Cloud! Where are you?" Zack exclaimed loudly into the house.

"In the shower!"

Leon followed the other inside and into the kitchen. On the way inside, he memorized everything that was in the house. The lack of furniture: only a small couch in front of a small TV set and a worn out coffee table in the living room. He also found the small cabinet the blond was using to block the balcony's glass door from the laundry event the other day. He chuckled in amusement.

They're arrived at the kitchen: a counter with a gas stove and a few frying pans hanging on it. There was also a small dining table with three seats around it. Zack exclaiming again, "I'll put the groceries on the kitchen table!"

"Okay!" Replied the host.

"Ah, Leon. Just put that on the table. And, would you call Cloud out of the shower while I manage some things here?"

"Eh?" Whether he realizes it or not, there was a wicked scene flashing suddenly in his brain.

"The door is on the left, just knock on it." Fortunately Zack has busying himself with the groceries.

So the brunette took the liberty to just walk up to the appointed door. As he got closer to the door, the sound of the shower's stream got louder in his ears. When he finally stood in front of the exact door,

"Just knock." He muttered lowly.

His left hand was already poised to knock, when suddenly he changed his mind.

'It's a shame if I just knock, right?!'

Then he decided to move the hand to the knob and rotate it slowly. It wasn't locked. The sound of the water's stream was clearer as he walked into the bathroom. The bathroom was small but it had enough space, even the shower part was located just a little further in the room and it had a separate door too. And he was lucky enough to find that the glass door was open.

Leon stepped inaudibly just an inch from the door way, crossing his arms and enjoying the scene from the open door. Cloud's body was gleaming erotically amongst the stream. His face seemed deep in thought, which looked real sexy in Leon's eyes. He smiled contentedly, observing what was served in front of his very eyes, added with inappropriate thoughts crossing his brain until he saw the naked blond thud his head against the wall while muttering, "Hey, wait a minute! What was I thinking?!"

And of course the brunet instinctively answered, "Well, in my personal opinion, I think you look good."

The blond straightened his head.

Eyes still nailed to Cloud's body, trailing from the upper part to the lower part. "The complexion, muscle tightness, the butt line,"

It seemed Cloud reacted to the words Leon was saying.

"Perfect. Just my type." The last comment from the brunet.

"Wha-…"

Cloud slowly turned his head to the door way, his face clearly showing that he was really pissed off. Then, he shouted loudly, his reaction like something you see on action movies.

"Wha-… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, FUCKER?!"

Cloud tightened his right fist; the left cheek of the brunet was graced with a bruise before he could dodge. Next, Cloud raised his left leg, but it landed on Leon's thigh, thanks to the fast reflex of his lower body. Or else, it would have ended up being a permanent trauma.

"Well, you know the story." Leon uttered as he pointed to his indigo cheek. It didn't look as swollen as earlier.

"Che, serves you right." Cloud spat.

"Well it was partly my fault too." Zack laughed stiffly. He turned to Leon, "And you know, I thought that I told you to just knock on the door."

The brunet exhaled before stating, "I just thought maybe he might not hear it. And besides…"

"Besides?"

Leon winked his right eye playfully towards the blond who instantly frowned in disgust, "Besides, I'm kind of interested in Cloud."

"Interested?" The black haired man seemed to think about the meaning behind that word.

"I like him." The brunette said firmly.

Zack blinked again in realization. "Oh! You mean you like Cloud?! I like him too, you know. That's why we're good friends. I even think of him like he's my own younger brother." uttered Zack innocently.

This time, it was Leon's turn to blink in question.

Cloud sighed deeply, "He doesn't have that G word in his dictionary."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, what's with this G word? Good word?! I have a lot in my dictionary." Zack stated smugly, thumbs up as if to praise himself.

Cloud rolled his eyes, "See?!"

Obviously Leon understood what the blond meant and in fact he was quiet intrigued by this new information about the raven haired one. "Is that so..." He glanced over to the blond, "Then it's a shame for you, I guess."

Cloud responded with an angry glare, he almost threw the knife at him "Shut up! I'm not like you!" Leon pretended to dodged the throw. He laughed despite being glared at by Cloud. He had totally forgotten about his bruised cheek.

"By the way Leon. What do you do for a living? I thought you were Cloud's co-worker." Zack asked after the laughter had dried up.

Leon cleared his throat. "Oh, I'm in programming."

"Programming?"

"For games." He continued

"Hee…" Zack nodded his head in understanding. "What kind of games?"

"Quite a lot, mostly computer games."

Cloud snorted cynically, "Knowing this guy, I bet they're adult games."

"Eh?!" Zack exclaimed, not in surprise but rather in enthusiasm.

"Zack?" The blond halted his work peeling the onion. He looked at Zack.

Leon chuckled lowly, "Not all of them. But well, I did do some projects for adult games."

"Can I borrow some?" Zack asked.

"I'll tell Aerith." Cloud threatened.

"Hey!" said Zack in protest.

The brunet nodded. "I don't mind."

"You're so dead when I tell Aerith, Zack." Cloud threatened again.

A little bit panicked, Zack defend himself, "Wait a sec, Cloud. It's normal for a guy to have one or two adult games on his computer, right?!" Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Now I suddenly want to check what you hide beneath the bed."

"Then how about this weekend?" Leon offered. "I'll lend you some. Just choose which one you like."

"Okay. Thanks a lot. I'll visit you this weekend." He turned to the blond one, "How about you, Cloud?"

"I'm not interested. And as you can see, I don't have computer here." That was what he said, but actually Cloud just didn't want to step in Leon's apartment. Who knew what kind of trap he would set up for him.

"I can lend you one of my laptops if you want." Here comes the devil's temptation, Cloud thought. "No thanks." he replied sternly.

"Eeh why? It's a great offer, right?! He's agreed to lend you his laptop and his apartment is just beside yours, Cloud. You don't have any plans for this weekend anyway."

Now what? A devil in angel's form takes up the seduction? Cloud exhaled deeply, his glare unwavering, "No!"

With that single word, Cloud grabbed a frying pan that hung on the wall and put it on the stove with a loud "clank" sound, signaling his determination.