Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

152 – Modern Art

For justagirl8225

Leon hadn't seen McCallister that shade of red since her new recruit days…not counting the time a civilian accidentally nailed her in the face with pepper spray. To the hair, she looked ready to either hit someone or cry…neither of which he desired at the moment.

And then there was Duke…or what he assumed was Duke, on the fraying leash around McCallister's wrist.

"I'm sorry, sir." She said tightly.

Duke just stood there between the two soldiers, drenched in every color of paint that Leon had ever seen, and some he couldn't quite put a name to. Her tail, a bright green color, was wagging back and forth, sprinkling some of the paint on the wooden floor of Merlin's house. Red and some ugly purple color were splotched across her muzzle and the thicker fur of her chest. He grimaced, tilting his head to inspect the full extent of the…abstract artwork that had been his dog just two hours earlier.

"The cans were all sealed and stacked properly." McCallister went on. "I left her alone for just three minutes, five at most, and when I got back—it was total carnage." She averted her eyes to the dog, either out of embarrassment or horror, he couldn't tell.

Maybe the private was expecting a scolding or punishment of some sort…Leon kept his arms folded as Duke eyed him, ears lifted. It was hard to be honestly angry when your dog looks like she escaped from a clown mass murder. In all absolute honesty, he was fighting everything not to crack a smile at the spectacle.

McCallister actually seemed upset about the whole ordeal, anyway, and she probably wouldn't appreciate him laughing at her. In fact, she seriously looked ready to cry…That bothered him. She had been acting odd—well, more odd than usual—lately. He recognized stress and exhaustion when he saw it. She was one bar brawl and a gallon of ice cream away from a meltdown…and he found himself wanting to know why.

Meanwhile, she was misinterpreting his silence.

"I've already put Cooper and Harper on cleaning the storage room." She started rambling, "I'll clean her up myself. I'm sorry, sir, I didn't realize she could knock over those cans—they were huge."

Leon let her ramble, squatting down and taking Duke's jaw in one hand, turning her face aside to see if any of it was in her ears or mouth. It looked clear. He looked at his hand. Bright blue paint from Duke's neck had coated his palm and he gave McCallister a flat look.

The private lifted her hands, which were nearly dripping orange. "I'll get right on it. Most of the paint is still wet—er, I guess you figured that out already—I mean—as soon as—"

She flippantly gestured with her hands, and a generous spatter of the orange paint was flung off her fingers haphazardly. Leon just blinked as most of the flung paint landed on his face. McCallister froze, naked horror in her eyes now…Seriously, she had been his intern for how long and she was still this…weird?

"I—I'm s-so sorry." She looked at her hands as though to curse them off.

Exhaling, Leon gestured her to come closer. Duke sat on her haunches beside him, her tail sweeping green across the floor in earnest now. McCallister hung her head and stepped closer, kneeling down beside him when he didn't stand up.

She was the first soldier he had trained personally, recruited her from the field and made her an example for other green recruits to measure up to. He could tell when she was passed the brink…and she was passed the brink. He had no idea why or how to go about figuring out why, but he couldn't send her home. She was one of his, which meant she needed to be doing something constantly or she'd go insane.

Still without a word, he looked at McCallister, lifted his hand, and smeared the blue paint across her jaw. The private blinked, bewildered for a moment. He smirked and stood, taking up a towel to wipe the orange off his face. McCallister sighed, shook her head, and stood as well.

"Thanks." She grunted, taking up Duke's leash again. "I'll—uh—I'll go wash her off."

He nodded and couldn't fight the grin anymore. God, she looked ridiculous…both of them did. McCallister caught his smirk and some of the weight slid off her shoulders. She turned and led Duke out of the front door, narrowly missing Tifa, who leapt aside at the sight of Duke like the dog was an active bomb.

McCallister excused herself, and as she disappeared, Tifa looked to Leon and lifted an eyebrow. Between McCallister looking ready to cry and Leon looking ready to lose it, Tifa looked utterly bewildered. "What did you do?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Me? I didn't do anything." Leon snorted, looking aside. "McCallister needs a day off."

"Aw…" Tifa tilted her head, "The ice man cares."

"Of course I care. She's one of mine." Leon was surprised he came out and said it, but before Tifa could laugh at him, he turned and went back to work on the computer.

She laughed at him anyway.

..:-X-:..

153 – These Things Unsaid

For raiko. EXE

Three days…Three days and the water was. Still. Out. Tifa grumbled to herself, snatching up her shower supplies and stepping out of her bathroom. She had no idea what had caused her bathroom to short out, but it was annoying as all get out. Not to mention inconvenient. Particularly when she was soaked in mud from head to toe from a mission gone awry in the Borough.

Leon's door was open and he was in the middle of brushing his teeth as she stomped in, still grumbling, and turned on the water in the shower.

"Good afternoon to you too." He grunted around the toothbrush.

"Did they call today?" She responded, stepping fully dressed into the shower and pulling the curtain closed. The water was still lukewarm and she gritted her teeth.

"No." He replied. "You look like a swamp monster."

"Bite me."

She heard him snort at her from the other side of the curtain as she was stripping out of her ruined, mud caked clothes. She had half a mind to throw the clothes at him…but he had been honestly flexible with letting her take over his bathroom this week, so she refrained. Besides, the water was starting to really heat up now and Kingdom Hearts, did it feel good.

"They said it might take a few days." He was saying.

"It's been a few days." She grumbled, lathering up a big dollop of soap and attacking the mud glued to her skin. "Did you tell them there was an angry woman involved?"

"Apparently it's not an isolated thing. Half of the building went out." He went on, and she heard him moving around as she rinsed off and began to repeat the process.

"Well, the water company should be more prepared." She whined, lathering up her hair until she was sure it was a mass of foam and bubbles. Rinse, repeat, lather, rinse.

He didn't respond to that, but he had probably stepped out. The way he got all awkward and red when she barged in to take a shower was…adorable, honestly. She almost enjoyed how uncomfortable he was. The teasing ('when was the last time you had a naked woman in your shower?') hadn't been as entertaining as she thought it would have been, so it faded out quickly.

Tifa rinsed off one final time and, deeming herself human again, turned off the water and started to wring out her hair. It only took one glance to realize—

"Oh crap…" She groaned, "Leon, are you still here?" She poked her head out of her curtain.

He wasn't in the bathroom, but he leaned into view from the bedroom at her yell. "What?" He asked flatly…Yup, red as a tomato…

She smiled despite herself. "I, uh, forgot to grab a towel."

For a brief moment, Leon just stood there blinking, and then abruptly shook his head and reached out of her line of sight. Tifa looked down at herself, perplexed by his expression. Nope, she was completely covered. Shrugging it off, she looked up as he stepped back over, offering the towel. She took it from him.

"Thanks."

He just grunted and left again, closing the bathroom door after himself to give her more privacy. She proceeded to towel herself off before realizing—

"Dammit, Tifa, what is wrong with you today?" She chided herself, noting that she hadn't grabbed any fresh clothes to change into either.

Well…she definitely wasn't going to bother Leon with THAT.

Wrapping the towel around herself and making sure she was covered, she gathered up her stuff and slipped out of the bathroom. A thought bubble nibbled at the base of her brain as she stepped across his bedroom to the door to the living room. She had caught Leon looking at her in that awkward, tomato way a lot lately…Oh dear god, had he caught HER doing that?

Stuck in her own head, she stepped into the living room.

Chicken, chicken, chicken, just say something!

"Man, I needed that," She cleared her throat, "Hey, I was wondering—"

She looked up and froze. Leon stood by the open door—she hadn't even heard anyone knock!—and just outside stood Yuffie and…Cloud. She nearly dropped her towel.

"You really needed…what?" Yuffie was wearing a shit-eating grin. "Did you two just—"

A beat passed.

Tifa, wearing only one of Leon's towels, looked from Yuffie, to Cloud, to Leon, and then slowly backstepped into Leon's room—the closest hiding place—and closed the door.

..:-X-:..

154 – Clear as Mud

For Handwritten

"Junk, junk, junk, bills, junk…" Tifa thumbed through the mail, sitting at the kitchen table in the apartment. "Junk, you—" she tossed the envelope onto the counter at Leon, who was scribbling on something or other. "—junk, me, bills…oh crap."

"What?" He asked, not looking up.

She grimaced as she opened the letter, "Last week when I was in Enchanted Castle, Belle got all wound up to throw another ball…Now she's throwing it, and she invited me."

"Ah…and the 'oh crap' is…"

"You know how those parties get. All dancing and roses and no alcohol…I'll never survive." She squinted as she continued reading. "Oh, I get a plus one."

Leon looked at her, sensing it coming.

"So…" She gave a mock-sneaky look. "Want to pretend to be my date?"

A sudden flare of exasperation took him by surprise and he frowned, setting his pen down. "Why do you do that?"

Tifa blinked, "Do what? Ask? All right, sorry—" She shrugged.

"No, not that." He gave an absent gesture. "Never mind."

"What?" She pressed, setting the mail on the table.

"Forget it." He dropped his eyes to his work again.

"No, tell me." She huffed.

He abruptly looked at her. "It's just that you're always—Is this some joke to you?"

She looked confused. "I literally have no idea what you're talking about."

"First Andrea's wedding, and then—"

"You think I'm using you?" She stood now. "Because you've dragged me to enough of these things to make up for me dragging you to mine."

"But I don't try to pass you off as someone you're not." He tried to keep his voice even.

"Oh." Tifa's voice told him the torpedo was in the water now. "You want to open that box, buddy? Because I'm sure this—" She tossed her long, dark hair, "—doesn't remind you of anyone."

She crossed the line, she knew it immediately. He knew it too, but he let the unsaid accusation roll off for the time being.

"I'm just—" He searched for the words, "I'm tired of you…constantly…trying to make crystal clear what is not."

"Speak English!" She smacked her hand onto the table. "I don't understand what you mean when you're like this."

"Pretending." He finally snapped, facing her fully. "Why are you so preoccupied with putting that big word 'pretend' in front of it every time you drag me to stuff? I don't mind being the plus one, I really don't, so why do you mind it so much?"

Tifa's back straightened, "It's called 'pretend' because it's not real."

"What isn't real?" His voice went up despite his attempt to keep it level. " 'and guest' doesn't HAVE to mean a date, and if it did, you make damn sure to let everyone, including me, especially me, know that it's pretend, not real, fake."

"Because we aren't dating!" She spread her hands, "We aren't together. We aren't a couple. I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

"You seemed fine with it when Andrea was giving you a hard time." He snapped, and then sighed, running a hand over his forehead.

"What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice quiet now, the dangerous quiet.

In all honesty, he had no idea what he wanted.

"I'm just tired of playing pretend." He said, exasperated, "If you want a date to this or that, I'll be there…but stop with the 'pretend' because…because it's making me crazy."

Tifa made a frustrated gesture, "Leon," Her voice kicked up a notch too, "A date means something."

Leon wasn't sure why his stomach decided to lodge itself in his throat then, but it did, and he shook his head and crossed to the door. "Would that be so terrible?"

He slammed the door after himself before she could respond.