OOC: RP Log Cloud and Leon

[onlypartlysunny]

Who: Cloud and Leon
What: Movies, a game of slapjack and a massive fight.
When: Thursday, Jan 10th
Where: Leon's house.
Why: Because we're log whores.
Also: Follow up to this log.



Sunlight streamed in through the window and Cloud stretched as he woke up. It took a moment for him to notice the bare skin beneath his cheek wasn't his own. As the realization hit him, he slowly moved away, hoping not to wake Leon in the process. It would be awkward enough with just him knowing. He didn't need Leon to know, too.

Leon awoke when he felt something moving against him, and was confused when he opened his eyes and saw a mass of yellow hair. He frowned and shifted, trying to pull away far enough to see what was sitting on him.

Cloud bit down on his lip as he felt Leon move out from under him. Shit. He kept his eyes averted and finished shifting back to his side of the bed.

Leon had to blink blearily at Cloud before he realized what they must have been doing, and then he felt a blush heat his cheeks as he quickly looked away again, pushing himself back up to a sitting position in the bed. Shit. Oops.

Cloud buried his face in his pillow. This had to have been a mistake. Shifting his leg, he surreptitiously checked to make sure he didn't have a wet dream while they'd been snuggled up in their sleep. Relieved that it had been a dry night, Cloud finally lifted his head enough to glance up at Leon. "Morning," he murmured, his hair flopping down over his eyes.

Leon only risked a quick glance back. "Morning." Hyne, this was embarrassing. He hadn't slept with anyone in so long that his body had reacted on its own when he finally did. That had to be the reason why.

"Sorry, I must have thought you were Matt in my sleep," Cloud said. He quickly regretted it and with a groan, buried his face in the pillow again. Now there were going to be questions about him and Matt. Again.

Leon raised an eyebrow at him. Well, that explained why the blond had been so quick to want to go to Matt's. Leon knew it was probably none of his business, but that didn't ease his curiosity any. "I didn't think you'd known him that long."

"How long is that long?" Cloud asked, peeking up at Leon from under his flopped over hair.

"I don't know." Leon frowned. "Long enough."

"He's good for snuggling with." Cloud sighed, Matt was good for more than that, but Leon didn't need to know that, knowing that lead to more complicated things like explaining how it worked that he'd known him less time than he'd been involved with Kadaj for and he didn't think he could explain it.

"...Right." So Cloud was one of those people who liked to curl up with other people. It was hardly Leon's business. He tried not to picture them together. It was weird.

"It's what I needed after what happened," Cloud said. Maybe now Leon would get why it was he hadn't been thrilled about getting the wrong number that night.

That made no sense to Leon, so he simply raised an eyebrow and didn't respond.

"What?" he asked, not bothering to look up. He could feel the confusion in Leon's silence.

Leon shook his head. "Nothing." Just because he didn't like being touched didn't mean Cloud was the same.

"Whatever," Cloud said, mildly irritated at the fact that Leon wasn't sharing whatever it was that had made him speechless.

Leon frowned at him. "What."

"I'm tired of hearing 'Nothing' come out of your mouth." Cloud sighed and propped his head up with a hand under his chin. "I give you actual answers and when I ask a simple question, that's all I get from you."

Leon's frown deepened. "You just told me you like being physical with a guy you've only known for a few weeks," he said flatly. "What do you want me to say."

"Anything is better than nothing," Cloud replied. "What's the problem with that?"

"Fine," Leon replied irritably. "You make no sense to me. Happy?"

"Happier than a hippo on holiday," Cloud replied, sarcasm evident in his voice. As soon as the words left his mouth, he was mentally face palming. Marlene had said that to him more than a few times and apparently, it had stuck with him if that was the first response that had come to mind. He was certain he was about to make even less sense to Leon after that comment.

Leon gave him an odd look for a moment before crossing his arms and sighing. "I rest my case."

"Why do I need to make sense to you?"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't you want to?"

"I don't know. You don't make sense half the time either." Cloud momentarily wondered if he should feel more awkward about having this conversation in bed wearing nothing but his underwear with Leon who was also only wearing his underwear especially after they'd woken up like they had. He quickly shoved the thought aside, settling on the notion that he shouldn't because there was nothing between them to feel awkward about.

"What what do I do that doesn't make sense?" Leon wanted to know. He thought he made perfect sense.

"Plenty of things," Cloud replied. Not that he could think of a specific example right this second.

"Like?" Leon wanted specifics.

"I can't think of any right now, but I'm not making it up."

Leon snorted. "Of course not."

"Shut up." Cloud threw his pillow at Leon.

Surprised, the pillow hit Leon's head and mussed his hair before he grabbed it from the bed and tossed it back. "You shut up."

Cloud threw it back again. "No."

Leon caught it and hit him over the head with it. "Yes."

Cloud yanked the pillow out of Leon's hands and shoved it back under him. Not that it made much difference as Leon still had his own pillow. "No."

"Whatever." Cloud was acting like a brat again, and Leon refused to play along.

Cloud let out an exasperated sigh. Leon was frustrating and every time he tried to express his frustration with the other man, it wound up making him look like an idiot.

"What you huffing about?" According to Leon's estimation, it was the blond being an idiot, not him.

"I'm not huffing. You." Cloud let out another sigh.

Leon frowned. "Me what?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "I was answering your question."

Now Leon rolled his eyes. "It's a little contradictory to tell me you're not huffing, and then tell me why you are."

"I was sighing not huffing." Cloud wondered if Leon had always been this dense or if it was something that developed in the last couple of years.

"You were huffing," Leon replied stubbornly.

"Was not." Cloud was about to say something more when his stomach rumbled, reminding him that it was breakfast time and he should probably eat. Especially since he'd skipped out on dinner last night, having not bothered to stop anywhere on his way to Leon's.

Snorting softly, Leon moved to get out of the bed, resisting a stretch as he made his way back to his bedroom. "I'm going to put on clothes and then make something to eat. You can borrow some pants, if yours still don't fit." He bit back a small smirk.

Cloud glared at Leon's back as he walked away. Jerk. Borrowing another pair of pants kind of negated his whole purpose in having come here in the first place, however, Cloud really didn't feel up to wearing jeans that were still a little too tight if he didn't have to.

He climbed out of bed and walked over to where his phone was charging. There were no voice mails and only one email from Tifa. Take the day off. There's only one delivery waiting here for you. It can wait until Friday. - Tifa Cloud eyed the email for several minutes, crouched down in his boxers. She was either lying or had laryngitis, and he sincerely doubted the latter.

Leon returned in a pair of jeans and a plain white tshirt to find Cloud practically where he'd left him, but out of bed at least. He glanced at the blond as he made his way to the kitchen. "What do you want?"

"Toast," came Cloud's reply. He of course wanted more, but after Leon's comment about his jeans not fitting he wasn't going to add more fuel to the fire by asking for some elaborate breakfast.

"Just toast?" Leon had already been pulling out ingredients for omelettes, and he frowned. "Are you sure?"

Cloud set his phone back down and made his way to the kitchen. He peeked in and saw what all Leon had pulled out of the fridge. "Omlettes?" he asked, his eyes lighting up. He hadn't had a good omelette in ages. He looked torn trying to decide between just toast or toast and an omlette. "How about just a small one?"

Leon glanced at him as he flicked the stove on and began preparing everything. "One large omelette when you're hungry isn't going to make you fat." He stopped himself just in time from saying fatter.

"Whatever," Cloud said, turning away and heading to grab his travel bag. "I'm going to go shower," he said as he walked past the kitchen to the bathroom, making a quick detour into Leon's room to grab a pair of jeans.

Leon nodded and began preparing their food. He'd take one after Cloud was done. It was kind of weird having someone else to have to move around in his home, but not in a way that he minded.

It was weird taking yet another shower at Leon's and even weirder knowing that it wasn't going to be the last. Unless he never ever got another delivery anywhere near here - but that was unlikely.

Once he was clean, Cloud stepped out of the shower, slung a towel around his waist, and started rummaging around in his travel bag. He pulled out what he needed to do his hair and his toothbrush. Dressed, with his hair styled and teeth brushed, he packed everything away, leaving his toothbrush out to dry. He'd pack it later.

Cloud headed back out to the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. "Smells good."

Leon heard him coming, and set a plate down in front of him when the blond sat at the table. "Better than toast?" he managed to ask with a straight face.

"Yes," Cloud said as he began cutting into the omlette with the side of his fork.

"Are you sure the egg doesn't have too many calories?" Leon couldn't help it. Cloud was acting so ridiculous over his nonexistent weight problem that it amused him.

Cloud's mouth was currently full of delicious omlette, otherwise he'd have a verbal retort instead of a rude gesture. He flipped Leon off as he chewed.

Leon snorted and grabbed his own plate before taking a seat in his usual chair, next to Cloud. "Mature of you, Strife."

Cloud shrugged and continued eating.

Ignoring him, Leon began eating as well. When he was finished he rose to put his dishes in the sink. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Okay." Cloud considered going into the living room and watching some TV but decided that maybe there were better things he could be doing. "I'm going to go for a walk." He got up and grabbed his cell phone off the charger then headed out the door into the cool morning air.

"All right. Don't get lost."

Cloud barely heard Leon as he shut the door behind him. He wasn't going to get lost. He'd walked around here before when he'd been searching for Sephiroth. Besides, walking to Cid's garage and back would be long enough of a walk for Leon to take his shower and for Cloud to work on that last little bit of excess weight.

Leon let himself relax in the shower, and changed into another white shirt and jeans when he climbed out again. Cloud didn't seem to be around, so he draped the wet towel around his shoulders and worked to put the bed away again so there would be a couch.

Cloud returned just as Leon was putting the cushions back on the couch. "Oh, I could have taken care of that." He was, after all, the one who'd insisted on sleeping out there last night.

Leon looked up at the blond from over his shoulder. "It's fine," he replied, turning back to his task. "I slept here too."

"Okay." Cloud walked over to the couch and sat down in the corner seat that he'd claimed the day they bought it. "Tifa emailed earlier. No deliveries today."

"Oh really?" Leon collapsed on the other end with a sigh. "So what are you going to do, then? Hang out here?"

"I don't know, only other thing to do is drive back to Tifa's." He could go visit Matt, but by the time he'd get there, he'd be able to return the movie and maybe watch another before heading home.

Leon shrugged. "You can do what you want. We could rent a movie otherwise. I'm not doing anything today."

Cloud pondered for a moment before agreeing. "A movie sounds good."

"Anything specific in mind?" Leon didn't keep up with this kind of thing.

Cloud reached for his cell phone and quickly found the note where he'd typed out the list of movies Matt had suggested when Cloud had said he'd liked Shanghai Noon. "Hmmm, ever hear of Blazing Saddles?"

"Hmm. No." Leon shifted to get more comfortable. "What is it?"

"It's another cowboy movie. Comedy. Supposed to be a lot funnier than Shanghai Noon."

"Really." That sounded like it might be all right. Leon nodded as he pushed himself to his feet. "Let me go get my jacket and we can go to the store."

"Do you have any jackets other than that shrunken looking one?" Cloud asked as Leon headed out of the room.

Leon tossed him a glare over his shoulder. "No. Why, do you need one?"

"No," Cloud replied, pointing to the sweater he was wearing.

"Then why did you ask?" Leon asked as he grabbed his jacket and shrugged it on.

"I was going to tell you to wear it instead." Cloud got up from the couch and made his way over to the door. "How close is the store?"

Leon glared at him as he followed. "Not far. Why, in a hurry for me to take my jacket off again?"

"Only if I can burn it when you do." Cloud replied.

"How about I strangle you with it instead," Leon retorted as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

"I'm not into asphyxiation." Cloud crossed his arms and glared at Leon.

"Asphyxiation is internal," Leon corrected. "Unless you would rather I stuff it down your throat."

"No, I don't want you shoving anything down my throat." Cloud walked a little faster, grumpier than he had been moments ago. Why couldn't they just do something - anything - without fighting?

Leon rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands in his pockets and quickening his pace to keep up. "Then you'd better not say anything else about my jacket."

"Anything else." It was a juvenile response, but Cloud was tired of Leon trying to tell him what to do. Or that he was wrong, or that he'd said something stupid.

"Ouch," Leon said through a snort. "If you'd added any more wit to that retort it might have hurt."

"Whatever." Cloud sighed. Maybe he should just go home instead of trying to go get this movie to watch with Leon.

Leon shook his head. "Are you actually mad?" It was hard to tell with the blond, since he seemed to get riled up over the stupidest little things. "You weren't even the one being insulted."

"No, why would I be?" Cloud asked. Leon's question seemed only to irritate him more and he wished there was a way to relieve all this tension. He wasn't even sure what was causing it, just that it was there and driving him nuts.

"Because you sound like it," Leon pointed out.

"Well, I'm not." Cloud took a deep breath, trying to relieve the agitation he was feeling.

"Whatever." Leon didn't want to argue about it right now.

Another few steps and they arrived at the store. Maybe, if they were lucky they could make it back to Leon's and get the movie started without any further arguing. Cloud scowled realizing that this was pretty unlikely and that he should just be realistic about it.

Leon looked around for a moment before turning back to Cloud, not particularly worried about the argument at all. "Comedy or Westerns, do you think?"

"Let's try comedy first." Cloud walked over to the comedy section and started looking for where the B's began.

Leon followed and perused from the C's backwards. He frowned when he saw it, and picked it up. "This it?"

Cloud glanced over and read the title. "Unless there's another movie with the same name, I'd say that's it."

"Great." Leon tucked it under his arm. "Anything else we want?"

Cloud consulted the list on his cellphone again. "Um... Wild Wild West? Should also be in the comedy section."

Leon scooted down a bit and grabbed that too, then brought it back to Cloud as he flipped it over and skimmed the back. "All right, these two will work."

"Do you have an account here already?" Cloud asked. He considered that maybe he should get one of his own so that the next time he happened to be in town he could show up with the movie instead of walking with Leon to come get one.

"No," Leon said, a little surprised by the realization. "I never bothered to get one."

"Oh." Cloud walked up to the counter and told the cashier that he'd like to open an account. He was almost done filling out the application when the cashier informed him that he needed to have a local address to open an account. Sheepishly he turned and looked to Leon.

Leon gave the cashier his address with a brief glance at Cloud. The whole thing seemed kind of pointless to him by putting it in Cloud's name if he had to use his own address anyway.

Cloud shrugged and turned his attention back to the membership application. When he reached the bottom he noticed the spot where you could add on additional names for who was allowed to rent with your membership. He glanced over at Leon again and offered him the pen. He wasn't sure what name Leon preferred to go by when it came to things where his full name was needed.

Leon took it and scribbled down his full name, because he was well aware that Leon Leonhart sounded stupid, and just Leon wasn't legally sufficient.

There was something weird about opening a joint membership account with Leon, but since he was already using Leon's address for it, it seemed stranger not to include him on it, too. Cloud signed the application and handed it back to the cashier who in turn handed them each a membership card then rang up the movies for them to rent.

Leon took them from her when he was sure they were done and started for the exit. "That thing doesn't cost anything to have, does it?"

"The membership itself? No," Cloud said shaking his head. "Just the rentals."

"All right." That was acceptable. Leon looked at the movies again as they exited the building.

Cloud put his membership card into his wallet as they walked back to Leon's house.

The walk back wasn't nearly as snark-filled as the walk there had been, and Leon dumped the movies on the coffee table before heading off to his bedroom to get rid of his jacket, because it was HOT, and not because Cloud didn't like it.

Cloud sat down on the couch and pulled off his sweater, draping it over the back of the couch. He took off his shoes and then propped his feet up on the couch cushions, stretching out comfortably.

When Leon returned he picked up both of the DVDs from the couch and looked at their backs again. "Which one?" he asked Cloud.

"Blazing Saddles, first?" Cloud asked, more than suggested.

Leon shrugged. "Works for me." He moved to put the DVD in, then grabbed the remote and sat on the other end of the couch again.

Cloud shifted so that he could better face the television, watching intently as the movie started.

Leon made himself comfortable as well. This movie looked nothing like the old one, and he was curious to see how it would go.

It was an older movie, Cloud could tell just by looking at it, but it was nothing like the one they'd watched the night before. It was far from dry (except for the landscape) and humorless, and in fact was racier in subject matter than the other old western they'd watched. Cloud was sucked into the movie, much like he'd been during Shanghai Noon.

Leon couldn't look away either. The movie was definitely on a separate track from the one they'd watched the night before, but it was no less amusing.

By the time the movie was over, Cloud had a crick in his neck from having tilted his head to the side for so long. Shifting his head around, he tried to loosen the tightened muscles in his neck so that he could enjoy the second movie.

Leon glanced at him as he stretched, his muscles a little stiff from lack of movement. "Well that was okay," he remarked. "Better than the last one."

"The one that caused us both to fall asleep?" Cloud asked, sitting up and stretching more.

"Yes," Leon replied, ignoring the other memories this brought up. "Better than the one that made us fall asleep."

"I don't think it takes much to be better than that." Cloud stood up and pointed to the kitchen. "Mind if I get something to drink?" He paused for a moment before adding, "And did you want anything while I'm up?"

"Yeah, just grab me whatever you're having," Leon told him somewhat lazily, turning to lift his legs onto the newly unoccupied end of the couch.

Cloud nodded and headed into the kitchen. He rummaged around in Leon's fridge for something to drink, randomly noting some of the other items in the fridge. Unlike Matt's fridge which was full of beverages and condiments and not much else, this one actually had food in it. Realizing he'd been in the kitchen for a little too long, especially considering the rather small selection of drinks he had to choose from, Cloud grabbed two bottles of iced tea.

He headed back into the living room and handed Leon one bottle then went to change the DVD to Wild Wild West. Glancing back at the couch he scowled. He plopped down at the end where Leon's feet were and elbowed them out of the way. His neck still hurt but he wanted to sprawl out again, and thought that doing so from this end might even it out a little.

Leon bent his legs a little, but it was his couch, and he figured he could sprawl out on it however he wanted. He did have to sit up to open the drink, though, and that pulled his feet back so that he could stretch again. "Thanks."

"Welcome," Cloud replied. He eyed Leon's feet warily, but aside from the short walk they took to the video store and back, he knew they were clean, and a walk that short wouldn't make them smelly. Unless Leon had some sort of foot fungus, but Cloud didn't want to consider that option too in depth.

Leon wiggled his toes. "They don't smell, you know. Start the movie."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "I didn't think they did." He reached for the remote and pressed play before settling back against the couch and opening his iced tea to take a drink.

This movie was different yet again, and yet again Leon found himself sucked into it, barely remember he had an ice tea in his hand every now and then.

Cloud was kind of amazed at how diverse a genre the western could be. So far not a single one they'd watched had been similar aside from the whole cowboy theme. He was once again sucked into the movie, barely paying attention to his iced tea as he drank it.

Which wouldn't have been a problem if Cloud had better timing. He managed to take a rather large swig just as Will Smith's character said something so funny that Cloud couldn't hold back a snort - which in turn sent iced tea spraying out of his mouth.

Leon had snorted a little at that, then snorted again when he looked over after hearing Cloud choke. When he realized what had happened he fumbled for the towel he'd left there from earlier and tossed it at Cloud. "Hurry, before it soaks in."

Cloud caught the towel and wiped up the couch before wiping up himself, his face turning a nice shade of pink from the embarrassment. He tossed the towel onto the floor, intending to put it in the laundry room after the movie.

Leon smirked a little to himself at Cloud's blush, but for the most part ignored him for the movie, which was actually pretty good as well.

After dropping the towel, Cloud had immediately turned his attention back to the movie and didn't notice Leon's smirk. By the time the movie was over he'd managed to push the incident out of his mind, forgetting his embarrassment completely.

Leon hadn't, but he remained silent about it nonetheless. Instead he stretched again. "That was good too."

"Yeah." Cloud glanced down at the time on the VCR/DVD player. It was nearly one in the afternoon, and he realized that he probably ought to figure out when he wanted to head home by if he was going to take deliveries tomorrow. He began counting on his fingers by tapping his thumb to each one, trying to figure out driving time, when he wanted to be home by at the latest and how much time that left him with before he needed to hit the road.

Leon watched him with a confused frown. "What are you doing?"

Cloud ignored Leon until he was finished, finally deciding he had to be on the road no later than six. "Figuring out when I need to leave."

Leon's eyebrow arched. "With your fingers?"

Cloud stared at him blankly, as though Leon had just spoken in some alien language.

Leon stared blankly back. "What."

"What's wrong with using my fingers?" Cloud asked after another minute of blank staring.

"To measure time?"

"Yes..."

Leon stared some more.

"What?" Cloud asked, feeling incredibly self-conscious.

Leon shook his head. "You make no sense."

Cloud rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I make perfect sense."

"I've never known anyone to count time on their fingers before," Leon remarked. "And we used military time."

"Whatever. I was going backwards from when I wanted to be home by and had to factor in a few other things." Cloud crossed his arms and might have pouted just slightly, not that he'd admit to it.

"Like what?" Leon wanted to know. He really didn't understand Cloud's methods.

"Stops for gas and a little bit of just in case time."

"Right. And what time did you get?"

"Six," Cloud replied before taking the final swig of his iced tea.

"So you have five hours," Leon clarified, watching him. He had no idea what else they could do for five hours.

"I can leave sooner. That's just the latest I want to leave by."

"And you're planning to leave earlier?" Leon asked, shifting his feet.

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know."

"Mmm." Leon had nothing more to say to that, so he didn't say anything.

Cloud laid there in the silence, finding it a lot less tension filled than whenever they tried to talk. With most people silences tended to hold more tension than anything else. They seemed to be the exception to the rule.

Never a huge fan of talking, Leon was comfortable in the silence as well. He took another drink from his tea and tried to come up with something else that might entertain them for a few hours.

After several minutes, Cloud spoke up. "Do you have any playing cards?" There were plenty of two player games that they could play.

Leon was a little startled by the question. "Uh. Probably."

"We could play something, if you do." Despite knowing that the games existed, he couldn't think of a good two player game off the top of his head.

"I'll go check." Leon pushed himself to his feet stiffly, setting his tea down on the coffee table before heading off to the kitchen. He knew he had a junk drawer in there, and if he had cards, that's where they'd be.

After a moment, Cloud followed Leon into the kitchen. "If you find the cards, did we want to play in here at the table? Might be easier than on the couch." He scratched the back of his neck and eyed the other man curiously.

Leon kept his eyes in the drawer, where he was busy rummaging around. "Easier?"

"I guess it depends on what game we play, but the couch cushions or the coffee table might not be the most comfortable place to play."

"Mmm." Leon nodded and withdrew a slightly old but nevertheless unopened pack of cards. "Here we go. The table's fine. What game did you want to play?"

Cloud took a seat at the table and thought for a moment. He could tell by the fact that Leon had to search for the cards that he didn't play often. "When was the last time you played cards? And what game?" He didn't feel like explaining any games with complex rules because he knew he'd somehow explain it in a way that would leave Leon confused.

Leon shrugged as he sat across from the blond, then frowned as he actually thought about it. "I don't know. Not for a while. We can play a basic game."

"Ever play Slapjack?" Cloud asked, the game being the first one that came to mind.

Leon looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "No, but I've seen it played."

"Do I need to explain the rules to you?"

"Is that the only game we can play?" Leon wanted to know. "Doesn't it involve hitting each other?" He'd only really seen Zell and Seifer at it, and they'd hit each other pretty hard.

"No, there's other games we can play. All you have to do is slap down on the jack card before the other person."

"Which usually results in one person hitting the other," Leon remarked. "Is that the game you want to play?" He looked at Cloud in a half-challenge. He couldn't help it.

"Afraid you're going to get hurt?" Cloud asked, challenging him back. Then with a shrug he added, "If that's the case I can think of other games."

Leon worked the large lion-ring off his middle finger. "I never said that, Strife. Are you trying to worm your way out of it through me?"

"Never," Cloud replied with a smirk. He reached for the deck of cards, opened the box and pulled them out to shuffle.

Leon smirked as well, stretching his arms out so that he could crack his knuckles. "Your funeral."

Cloud dealt the cards before removing his wolf ring, setting it on the table out of the reach of any stray limbs. "I'm not the one who's going to lose."

Leon rearranged his cards into a neater pile. "You don't think so?"

"I've played more recently than you." Cloud straightened his pile as well.

"I'm a fast learner." Leon waited for the blond to make the first move.

"Good, this is a fast game." Cloud began laying out his cards face up in a pile, waiting for Leon to lay one down before setting down the next. The first few cards went down slow as they got into the rhythm of playing.

Leon kept a steady eye on the growing center pile, but it took a moment to register the jack from his hand when it came. Luckily he was still poised over the deck, so he was able to slam it down on the table again fairly quickly.

Cloud groaned as Leon beat him to the jack, his fingers just barely brushing over Leon's as he pulled back, knowing it was too late.

Leon smirked and gathered up the pile. "Your turn, Strife."

Cloud laid down a new card and started the pile going again, his eyes glued to the growing pile between them.

Leon leaned over the table to keep a better eye on it as well as he added his own.

Running low on cards, Cloud began to wonder if Leon had all the jacks when finally, he laid one down and slapped down on it immediately.

Leon was just after him, and frowned as he slowly lifted his stinging palm from the back of Cloud's hand. "A lucky move."

Cloud swept the pile towards himself, straightening it and adding it to the bottom of his stack. He smirked and ignored the slight stinging sensation Leon's slap had left behind. It had been a while since he'd played this with only adults. Denzel and Marlene really liked the game and so he and Tifa always kept their slaps light.

Leon ignored Cloud's smug look and started a new pile for them.

Cloud watched as Leon laid down his cards, wanting to catch that first glimpse of the card as it's turned over so he could be ready to slap down again.

The next Jack was Leon's, but it took a moment for him to see it from around his own arm, and his slap was somewhat delayed.

Paying attention to Leon's hand as it moved had its benefits as he noticed the Jack just before it was set down, his hand moving to slap down immediately. He smirked as Leon's hand landed on top of his, and didn't bother to wait for Leon to pull back before drawing the pile nearer.

Leon tried and failed to resist the urge to scowl. He drew his hand back again and scooted closer to the table as he waited for Cloud to make the next move. He was going to get the next Jack if he broke his hand doing it.

Cloud quickly laid out his next card after adding the new cards to his deck. It was card after card after card until he laid down another jack, his eyes too focused on Leon's hand to notice what he'd just laid down. As he saw Leon's empty hand moving towards the stack he slapped down hard, finding warm flesh separating him from winning more cards.

This time Leon smirked and dragged his hand out from under Cloud's. "We're about even now."

"Only because I let you have that one." Cloud knew it was a lie and didn't really believe he was fooling Leon, but it made him feel better about not gaining that stack. Of course, getting Leon with a hard slap added to it.

Leon snorted. "In your dreams, Strife." He meticulously began the next pile./

"Sorry to break it to you, but you don't feature in those," Cloud teased as he laid out his next card.

Leon kept his eyes on the pile as he snorted again. "I certainly hope not."

"Probably a good thing considering all my dreams lately are about death or sex." Cloud bit down on his lip as the last word escaped his mouth. It wasn't anything Leon needed to know, and he wasn't sure why he said it.

Leon paused with his hand over the pile to stare at Cloud wordlessly for a moment. Then he pulled it back slowly and looked away. "...Really. I would have expected taxes."

"They can be rather taxing," Cloud replied, digging himself deeper into the Oh god, did I just say that? hole.

Leon snorted again. "Remind me to wash your sheets."

Cloud choked on air as the comment left Leon's lips. "No reminder is necessary."

Leon smirked. "Just making sure."

"Sharing a bed with you doesn't inspire those kind of dreams." Cloud focused his attention on the cards, laying them out one by one, waiting for Leon to play one of his jacks.

"So you're a natural cuddler, then," Leon remarked tonelessly, his eyes on the pile as he played his own cards. "That's actually more reassuring than the alternative."

"Side effect of having spent most of a week with Matt." Cloud said, his cheeks still slightly pink, but only noticeable if you were looking for it.

"Of course," Leon replied dryly. "Only a side effect."

"Whatever." Cloud paused for a moment before adding. "Did you hide all your jacks?" The pile in the center of the table was growing rather large, and really, there should have at least been one jack laid down by now.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Yes, in my sleeves." He was wearing a tshirt.

"Those invisible sleeves come in real handy."

"Of course," Leon snorted. "Invisible sleeves." Then he laid a Jack and his eyes lit up as he pounced on it.

Cloud slammed his hand down as quickly as he could upon seeing the jack.

Leon winced as their fingers caught against one another. His hand had hit an instant before Cloud's, though, and another smirk twisted at his lips as he reached forward with a free hand to help slide his pile over. "This may be my game point."

Cloud pulled back his hand, trying to hide his own wince. "Don't be so sure. I'm good at coming up from behind."

"We'll see," Leon replied slyly. He started the next pile.

Cloud laid his cards down, each card joining the pile more aggressively than the last. He had to get this hand, or he was going to be eating his words. On the plus side... words weren't fattening.

Leon's senses were on the alert as well, his pile fat in his hand, but well aware that Cloud could win this game back if he didn't end it soon.

The smaller his stack grew, the more agitated Cloud became. He normally wasn't a sore loser, but he was definitely about to be one (figuratively and literally) if his luck didn't kick in soon.

The next Jack took a moment for Leon to register because he was concentrating so hard on finding it that actually seeing one made him pause and blink. When his hand went down he was almost positive it was too late, and he cursed.

"Ha!" Cloud said, grinning, possibly bigger than he had while sober in a very long time, as he pulled the stack towards him.

Leon glared. "You got lucky."

"Luck has nothing to do with it."

"You just think that, Strife."

Cloud started the pile again, ignoring Leon's last comment as best as he could.

Leon shut up as his attention was drawn to it as well.

Cloud was so determined to keep his lead, that he missed seeing the jack as he laid it down.

Leon didn't, and his eyes flashed as he lashed out for it. "Ha!"

Cloud silently cursed to himself, his expression turning sour. How was it he kept managing to miss his own jacks?

Leon smirked, the closest expression he wore to a grin. "Told you it was luck."

"Whatever," Cloud said, glaring.

Leon smirked some more as he started the next pile.

Cloud tried to focus on the cards, but his agitation at Leon was growing and making it harder for him to focus.

Leon didn't notice, his own focus on the quickly growing pile.

Waiting for the next Jack to be laid down, Cloud had given up blinking, holding his eyes wide open so he wouldn't miss it. His eyes began to sting and he blinked just as he laid down his jack.

"Ha!" Leon saw the Jack leaving his hand and slapped his own down over it, hard. "I win!"

Cloud shoved his few remaining cards into the pile. "No need to gloat about it."

Leon smirked as he gathered he cards in his hands. "I'm not gloating."

"Then what do you call that smirk, hmmm?" Cloud asked, his lips drawing into a thin line.

"What smirk." Leon kept his eyes on his hands as he shuffled the cards again.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Do you need a mirror? Because you are smirking."

"I don't smirk," Leon said haughtily, but he didn't bother wiping off the one on his face.

"If I had a mirror I'd show you right now." Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"There'd be nothing to see." Leon was finding Cloud to be quite amusing when he was in a bad mood.

Cloud huffed. "Drop the act Leon."

"Who says I'm acting?"

Cloud stood up and walked around the table, grabbed Leon by the wrist and dragged him into the bathroom, shoving him in front of the mirror. "There. Look. Smirk. See?"

Leon's smirk grew, but he looked at Cloud in confusion anyway. "No."

"This," Cloud said pointing to Leon's lips, his finger just centimeters away, "is called a smirk."

"I thought it was called a mouth," Leon replied dryly. "Where did you learn your English, Strife?"

"I meant the expression you are making. I know that's a mouth." Cloud huffed again and stormed out of the bathroom.

Leon's smirk widened into what might be considered a grin as he followed. "Someone's in a bad mood."

"I am not," Cloud called back, heading to the living room to plop down on the sofa. He sprawled out on the couch, face up with his arms crossed.

Leon approached and watched Cloud pout from over the back of the couch. "Sore loser?"

"No, this has nothing to do with the cards and everything to do with you." Cloud said, his voice low and pouty sounding.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Me? What did I do? Win?"

"No, you gloated about winning and you smirked then pretended that you weren't." Cloud sighed. "Or were you not there between the time you slapped down on that jack and just now?"

"Oh come off it, Strife." Leon draped his arms over the back of the couch and leaned over to raise an eyebrow at the blond. "It was a card game. Swallow your pride and stop pouting."

"I'm not pouting," Cloud said. If Leon was going to play the not smirking game, he could play it with a different expression.

Leon's eyebrow arched. "Sulking, then?"

"No."

"Being a brat."

"No more of one than you are."

"But I'm not the one pouting."

"You're the one with the smirking issue."

"I don't smirk, remember?"

"Then what the hell do you call what you're doing?"

Leon leaned an elbow on the back of the couch and rested his chin in his palm. "Calling you out on your pout."

"I don't even know why I bother," Cloud said, moving to get up. His forehead connected with Leon's and he flopped back down, grabbing his head with a groan.

Leon straightened with a grimace, a hand flying to his own forehead to rub the sting from it. "Hyne, Strife, do you have a metal plate embedded?"

"No," Cloud was quick to reply. He paused a moment before quietly adding "At least I don't think I do."

Leon frowned, his fingers separating so that he could look down at Cloud again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Never mind," Cloud said, sitting up more slowly this time, making sure Leon wasn't in the way. He rubbed at his forehead, wishing the pain to go away.

Leon glanced at his hand briefly to make sure Cloud hadn't broken the skin, then moved so that he could see the blond again. "No, not nothing. What was that supposed to mean?"

"It was just a joke at my own expense," Cloud said. "And one with a long story I don't want to go into."

"Go into it anyway," Leon told him. He rubbed the base of his palm against his forehead a final time before collapsing on the couch next to the blond. "That's a weird joke to make."

"Fine," Cloud said. He made himself more comfortable on the couch before telling his story. "You know I was in the military as a teenager, right?" Best to get the basics out of the way first. "With Zack and Sephiroth."

Leon nodded. He remembered learning that somewhere, even if he couldn't remember where.

Cloud nodded in return. "I'll skip all the boring details to make the story shorter. Sephiroth went crazy and..." He filled in all the important details about Sephiroth stealing Jenova's head, about how he stopped him, killed him at the risk of his own life. Some of it from his own memory, and a lot of it from what he'd found online. "This scientist guy took interest in me when he came to get Zack. He used us both for experiments for five years before Zack and I escaped. Well, Zack escaped and took me with him. I wasn't really capable of moving on my own at that point. Mako poisoning." He filled in the last few important details then let out a sigh as he waited for Leon to digest this information.

Leon was a little surprised. He knew Cloud hadn't exactly enjoyed the comforts of an easy life, but he hadn't thought he'd been experimented on and poisoned. He watched the blond with a frown. "How long ago was all this?"'

Cloud did a little bit of mental subtraction. "Zack and I escaped five years ago. So that makes it ten years ago that the experiments began."

Leon's eyebrows shot up. "And you're how old now?"

"Twenty-four. I'll be 25 this summer." Cloud glanced down at his feet.

"Hyne." Leon ran a hand through his hair at this new information. He wasn't sure what else to say. "Your own government did that to you?"

"I didn't realize how corrupt they were when I decided to join." Cloud pinched the fabric of the jeans on his legs and rolled it between his fingers idly, his gaze focused on it. Don't ask why I joined, Cloud thought. It wasn't that he was embarrassed about why, it was just going to lead into another conversation... one he knew he wasn't ready for.

"What made you decide to join?"

Cloud reached up with his other hand and ran a hand through his hair before glancing up at Leon, giving him a distinct, I'll tell you, but then you need to drop this conversation look. Well, a look he thought was distinct, at least. "One of the generals was in the papers a lot. And I looked up to him. He was my hero." Cloud then looked back down at his hand before quietly adding, "That general was Sephiroth."

"I thought Sephiroth was evil," Leon replied with another frown. "What was he doing in your military?

"He wasn't always evil," Cloud replied. "He used to be great before he went crazy."

"Hmm." Sounded like a few people Leon used to know. He slouched back against the couch a little. "And how does Kadaj fit into all this."

Cloud froze, every muscle in his body stiff with tension. "I don't think that's any of your business."

Leon watched him curiously, his eyes narrow. "Tell me anyway."

If Cloud could tell his muscles to move, he'd get up and leave right now, unfortunately they weren't listening. Saying,"I don't want to talk about Kadaj, Leon," was the best he could do.

Leon sighed. "Why not?" He was aware he was walking a thin line, but he was curious anyway.

Cloud didn't have any answer better than, "Because I don't want to." He hoped that Leon would accept it, but knowing what he did of him, that wasn't very likely.

"You were already talking about Sephiroth," Leon pointed out. "I don't see what difference talking about Kadaj will make."

"I was talking about Sephiroth the first time he was alive. There's a difference."

"No, you're just insisting there is," Leon argued. "Talking about it won't change anything, Strife."

"You just think that because you don't know."

"I only don't know because you won't tell me."

"Catch-22, I know." Cloud sighed. "The only person who knew anything about my involvement with him was Matt until I accidentally called you on New Year's. He only knows because he got mixed up in things." He'd already said more than he wanted to, but he wanted Leon to understand that it really wasn't his business or that it was anything anyone really knew.

"Mixed up?" Leon asked, then frowned as the rest sank in. "Were you keeping things with Kadaj a secret?"

Cloud nodded and pulled his legs closer to him.

"Why?"

"Because I knew I shouldn't have been involved with him like that." Cloud was feeling very uncomfortable now. He didn't want to talk about this with a guy he didn't really like.

"Then why were you?" Leon could hear the growing unease in Cloud's voice, but it sounded like the guy had gotten himself mixed up in some pretty shady affairs, and he wanted to make sure he was actually all right.

Cloud didn't answer. Why had he been involved with Kadaj? The only answer he could come up with wasn't one that Leon was likely going to accept easily, but it was what he had. "It felt good."

Leon didn't reply for a moment, and when he did he leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees and hands clasped as he turned to regard Cloud with a concerned frown. "If you're talking physically, Strife, everyone feels good; you just need to find someone who won't attack you mentally at the same time." And by the sound of it, that's exactly what Kadaj had done.

Cloud could feel his face growing warm, knew that his skin was probably some shade of red or pink. "How do you think Matt got mixed up in it?" he replied, unable to look at Leon.

Leon's eyes narrowed. "He slept with Matt to mess with you, and you stayed with him?"

"No," Cloud replied. "I slept with Matt." He could feel the blush spreading down his neck as he revealed this. "Kadaj just happened to see it." He wondered if Leon had paid any attention to the posts a while back about Matt being injured and if he'd put two and two together, or if he was actually going to have to say it.

Leon hadn't, really, but now that Cloud mentioned it he vaguely remembered. His frown deepened. "And why did you sleep with Matt, if you were already with Kadaj?"

"Heat of the moment... sort of... mostly." Cloud couldn't believe he was having this conversation with Leon. It wasn't any of his business, and yet Cloud kept answering.

"Then you shouldn't have been with Kadaj," Leon replied evenly, "if you could get caught up in the heat of the moment with someone else so easily. You shouldn't have been with someone you didn't have a passion for, and you definitely shouldn't have been with someone willing to hurt your friends just to get back at you." Leon didn't want to sound preachy--his own life was far from perfect--but these were things he'd assumed Cloud had already known, and he wanted to make sure the blond knew them now.

"This is why I said it was none of your business. I don't need you telling me how I should have done things. I can't go back and undo them." Cloud looked up and glared at Leon. "Until Kadaj went all psycho on Matt I wasn't even sure it was anything more than just sex with him." It was slightly inaccurate, he knew before Matt and him had done anything beyond making out, but it wasn't a detail he was thinking about right now.

"I know that," Leon replied testily, his own temper beginning to stir. "I'm not trying to dictate how you should run your life, Strife, I'm trying to make sure you don't have some serious masochistic wiring that's keeping you from making good decisions. You're only twenty-four; you don't need to be making half-relationships with people just because they "feel good"."

"Sorry I didn't have my teenage years to explore things on slower level," Cloud said, his voice bitter as he drew his legs tight up against his chest.

"Not everyone grew up suckling a silver spoon, Strife," Leon snapped. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and your lost childhood and move on with your life."

"I don't want to argue about this. I didn't even want to talk about it in the first place." Cloud wasn't trying to make excuses, and yet he was, poor ones at that, ones he knew were poor before they even left his mouth.

"You know who you sound like?" Leon asked sharply, the likeness only increasing his irritability. "You sound exactly like I did ten years ago, only you're already seven years my senior. Grow up. No one's going to tell you what to do or how to do it, and when you make a mistake it's yours to deal with, not someone else's. I don't care if you like me or not, you need to stop hiding behind people like Matt and Kadaj and your own crappy life and own up to the fact that you made a mistake being with that guy in the first place. A part of Sephiroth, Hyne..."

He shoved himself to his feet angrily and stomped off to the kitchen for some kind of distraction, preferably in the form of a drink; Cloud's excuses and attempts to shrug off what he'd done were eerily similar to what he himself has tried doing as a teenager, and seeing that irritable, moody look in someone else bothered him more than he liked to admit.

Cloud sat there for several minutes after Leon stormed out, trying to digest what he'd said, trying to come back with some sort of response. When he finally had one, he walked into the kitchen and stood next to the doorway.

"You really are a hypocrite. I don't care how much older I am than when you made the mistakes. Those were your mistakes. I didn't get to witness them, so I couldn't learn from them. I didn't see anyone make the mistakes. So I made them myself." Cloud stood with his arms crossed, his gaze focused on Leon, daring the other man to tell him off again.

Leon looked up from where he was mixing drinks just long enough to shoot Cloud a glare from over his shoulder. He didn't want anything that would make him drunk or anything close to it--he'd always hated that lightheaded, carefree feeling, and now was no exception--but he wanted something that stung a little when it went down, and would take the edge off his temper and the memories it had dredged up.

"I probably am," he replied after a moment, his tone still sharp as he focused on pouring. "I don't care. I'm not you. But the way you're going, Strife, you're going to make yourself very miserable, and drag a lot of other people down with you in the process."

"What way am I going exactly, Leon? Since you know so much. Kadaj is dead. I haven't seen Matt in that capacity since before Kadaj injured him. Yeah, he held me when I left from here last week. Last I checked cuddling wasn't sex. Do you think I'm dumb enough to keep making the same mistakes? Because that's what I'm hearing from you." Cloud's voice was steady, restrained as though he were holding himself back, trying to keep from letting his anger get out of control.

"Yes, actually," Leon snapped, setting the bottle down on the counter a little harder than he'd meant to and turning to glare at Cloud. "I think if Kadaj's memory wasn't still so sore, you would be sleeping with Matt right now. I think you got involved with him already knowing the full extent of Kadaj's temper, and I think you got involved with Kadaj already knowing what a bad idea it was. I think the only reason you didn't see Matt after Kadaj taught the two of you a lesson was out of guilt, not his future safety, and I think you're still lying to yourself about the whole thing because trying to think about it rationally hurts too much."

Cloud's jaw dropped, his mouth as open as his eyes - which were now wide with shock. He stood there gaping like a fish, just staring at Leon, having a hard time believing he'd just heard what he thought he heard. He pinched his arm to make sure this wasn't some nightmare, drawing his mouth closed as he did so.

Leon shook his head and went back to his drink, on second thought grabbing another glass out of the cupboard and pouring Cloud one was well. He wasn't trying to verbally wound the other man, but he recognized those patterns, and knew Cloud would probably continue on listlessly until he either hit another bump in the road or managed to jerk himself off of it on his own. Calling him out like this was faster, even if it hit a little close to home. But hell, at least he didn't have to face his own damn mortality and the fate of the damn world before he realized what he was doing. Leon set Cloud's glass over to the side towards the blond and quickly drained his own.

When he noticed the drink set out for him, Cloud approached the counter and picked it up. He drained it quickly, making a face as the liquid burned it's way down his throat. "Thanks," he muttered and pushed the empty glass back towards Leon. He didn't know what to say about what Leon had just spouted off at him, didn't even know what to think about it. He'd have plenty of time for that on the drive home.

Leon was already pouring himself a shot of straight liquor before he drained that too, then set the bottle aside and dumped his glass in the sink. "I wasn't trying to be an ass, you know," he said gruffly after a moment, his eyes on the pouring water as he ran it over the dishes piled there. Thinking back on it, he knew that's what it had probably sounded like.

"Next time try harder," Cloud replied, though there was no anger left to his voice, no bitterness. It just was.

Leon glanced up at Cloud at his tone, then flicked the water off and turned to regard him fully. "I'd apologize, except you haven't told me I'm wrong yet."

"I'm undecided on that." Cloud crossed his arms again, tight against his chest.

Leon snorted. "Which is just a witty way for you to say I'm not," he drawled, shaking his head as he turned back to the sink. "You're not a bad guy, Strife, just a naive one."

"Whatever," Cloud said. He didn't feel like arguing anymore - or maybe it was just that he'd run out of arguments that wouldn't just feed into what Leon was saying.

Leon sighed. This was why his home had been empty since he'd lost Rinoa; she'd always been the only who could tell when he was trying to be a jerk and when whatever he'd said had just come out that way. He shook his head and moved to fetch his ring back from the table. "If you want to leave, I can take the movies back later."

Cloud stared at Leon for a long minute before silently turning and heading toward the bathroom. He grabbed his travel bag and slung it over his shoulder before returning to the kitchen. He shot Leon one last look before leaving, heading straight for Fenrir. He stored the travel bag away before climbing onto the bike, inserting the key and starting it. In less than a minute from when he'd emerged from the bathroom, Cloud was driving down the road, on his way home.

Leon wasn't surprised. With his ring safely back on his finger again he watched Cloud gather his things just as silently, arms crossed. He sighed when he heard that giant motorcycle of his start up again. He really should start watching what he said to other people again, they weren't all as clueless as Selphie and Zell or as carefree as Rinoa, and if he didn't he was going to end up exactly how he'd been back in the Garden--which, given what he'd just said to Cloud, would be pretty hypocritical of him indeed. He sighed and headed off to take a hot shower, never mind that he'd already taken one earlier. Cloud would be back or he wouldn't. There was nothing he could do about it