a|n: so this was supposed to be a one shot and it morphed into...something else. It's still going to be short, but I figured I'd split it up so it would work better. Basically I was writing a bunch of canon stuff and it was so depressing and I got the overwhelming desire to just write two dorks in love. But this is Cloud and Leon. They never make it easy for you (or themselves). I don't know what to make of this but I wrote it when I really needed a pick me up, and in the chance that someone else really needs a pick me up, here you go (uh...eventually)!

disclaimer:
I own nothing. Nothing is mine.

one...
the great procrastinator

It was Fall when he moved in. Leon remembered that it was Fall because the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes that day was that there was no green on the trees outside of the window directly across from him. They were all deep red and golden orange and Leon wondered when he stopped noticing time passing.

After he'd gotten up and made coffee a rare sentimental urge caused the brunette to go to the window with the cup to get a better look at the trees, perhaps pull some inspiration from the natural world, and that was when he first saw him.

After he first saw him, Leon looked a lot.

He was unloading the back of a small U-Haul truck, which was initially what drew Leon's attention to the scene happening in front of the building. He didn't know that anyone had moved out, let alone long enough ago for someone to be moving in. For the second time in far shorter a period than he was comfortable with Leon wondered when he stopped paying attention to the things happening around him.

Then the blond turned around and Leon stopped thinking. Leon stopped thinking completely as he drank in all the details of the others face, was assaulted with them really. He was all handsome sharp planes framed by soft blond hair, with big eyes so blue they made everything else described by the word look like imitators.

He said something to someone hidden from Leon's view and his attention was drawn to the way full lips formed words. It seemed like some new artform he'd never experienced before.

'Jesus...' He thought to himself, embarrassed at his thoughts.

A brunette woman walked off the sidewalk and grabbed the box from the blond. He smiled at her and Leon wasn't embarrassed any more. He could imagine waking up to that smile, kissing that smile. He didn't even register the woman he was so invigorated, more inspired than he'd felt in weeks. He was just about to turn from the window when the blond looked up. Their eyes met and an actual shiver ran down his spine, the likes of which he'd described hundreds of times in his stories but never really felt.

The blond smiled, smiled at him, and he turned away from the window. He downed his coffee in one gulp and turned to his desk, placing the cup on the down with a little too much force as he sat with the intent to put this intense, erratic beating of his heart into words.

"This is absolutely fantastic Leon!" Aerith said, putting down her printed copy of the story he'd sent her two days ago. "I mean you're usually good but this is wonderful."

"Thank you." Leon said curtly, taking a sip of his coffee.

Once a month, just before the issue went out She…, the woman's magazine Leon somehow found himself writing for, had a staff meeting to discuss content and finalize the layout. It was one of the handful of times he left the sanctity of his apartment lately, which he never really thought about until he'd actually stepped outside into the autumn light and realized that the wind felt new.

"I just don't get it." Yuffie said, leaning forward on the conference table, "How does a stuffy guy like you write love stories of all things."

"Good love stories at that." Kairi said twirling her pen in between her fingers, "Are you a secret Casanova Le-on?" she singsonged.

Leon rolled his eyes, "Fiction is easy. Love is cliche enough a topic that writing it is even easier."

"But living it is hard?" Yuffie asked, "Have you ever even been in love?"

At this Leon reddened, shocking the table into silence. Leon could feel his face heating up and scowled at his bodies betrayal. "Shut up." he said quietly, avoiding everyone's gaze.

Yuffie screamed.

"What the hell?!"

"That's why this is so good! You're in LOVE!" Kairi exclaimed.

"I'm not in love... Jesus." Leon frowned, "Lower your voices."

"Is there someone though Leon? You're blushing." Aerith said, smiling in that way she did that made it impossible to not tell her the truth.

Leon sighed, "Not really. I just saw someone and I got inspired."

This time Kairi screamed.

"Jesus Christ seriously?"

"I'm sorry!" Kairi covered her mouth with her hand, "This is just so exciting! You do understand that in the two years you've been working here, writing love stories you've never so much as hinted at a date?"

"And I'm still not," Leon countered.

"Yes, but it's a possibility!" Yuffie said.

"No it's not, I don't even know his name."

Yuffie opened her mouth and Leon reached out to cover it, his palm muffling her scream. "Love is easy to write because it's fiction. Being inspired by visuals is not new, and it's not romantic just because this time it happens to be another person. Whatever you're thinking stop. This is not the next story in some series for teenage girls. It's just the creative process. Get over it."

Yuffie lowered her eyes and nodded. Leon cautiously removed his hand from her mouth, feeling just a tiny bit guilty for bringing the mood so low.

"Well, whatever it is seems to be a very good thing. For your writing if nothing else," Aerith said with a smile, effectively dispelling the gloom, "Now, back to the task at hand, have you finished the accompanying art for Leon's story Kairi?"

Leon was a liar for a living. Although, he guessed that was a pretty harsh way to put it. He was a writer. He made things up and presented them in a neat package with a pretty bow and that was how he made his money. He wasn't hurting anyone, the word fiction printed in the upper right hand corner of all his pieces took away all of his responsibility to the truth. People didn't read his stories for the truth (which, in his opinion, was that love was invented by people like him to sell things,) they read it for a beautiful lie. Leon was very good at beautiful lies. It was his own personal art form.

He thought about this as he walked home from the meeting, drinking in the details of his surroundings to store for later like a bear preparing for hibernation. The mid-afternoon sunlight was the perfect compliment to the Autumn chill and the leaves had begun to fall along the path to his home, giving the street a picturesque natural glow. He was admiring this, writing the scene in his mind when he saw him sitting on the stoop. He was in a pair of dark wash jeans and a navy v-neck shirt, a cream cable knit sweater tossed over the ensemble almost as an after thought. He was sitting on the very top step, his legs stretched out over the other two in the perfect picture of leisure. Leon's inner camera went *click* and stored the image for later.

Leon felt his heartbeat quicken in his chest when he realized he would have to pass him to get into the building. His eyes darted around briefly, before settling directly in front of him. If he kept facing straight ahead and walked with a deliberate air about him he could pass without incident.

He focused on the doorknob of the old wooden door as he opened the waist high gate leading to the three floor walkup. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the other adjust his legs to give him more room to pass. He could feel those eyes on him as he approached the stoop and in one split second of indulgent curiosity he let his gaze fall down and everything was ruined.

The blond was already looking at him and when their eyes met he smiled, a subtle yet brilliant maneuvering of lips, like he was both unused to forming them in that particular way and unaware of their actual power. Leon was stopped in his tracks, one foot on the first step, one on the second.

The other man stood up and the two of them looked at each other for a moment before he spoke,

"Hi,"

His voice was soft and quiet, a little deeper than Leon had imagined.

"You live on the third floor right? I'm Cloud, I just moved into 2G."

"Leon," was all the brunet managed to choke out, although it came out clipped and cold. He cringed inwardly, and the spell was broken. He looked away and reached for the front door, the blond, ('Cloud' Leon thought) moved out of the way.

"Nice to meet you," Cloud said, turning so he was facing Leon, who was already halfway into the lobby.

Leon stopped at the mailboxes, unlocking his which was empty save for two thin white envelopes. He clutched them much too tightly as he pounded up the steps, hand slightly shaking as he unlocked his door and entered his apartment. Once inside he tossed his keys onto the hall table and leaned against the front door, he'd talked to the blond. Granted, quite briefly and all they had exchanged was names, but they had spoken. He'd smiled at him and he felt his heart thundering in his chest so loudly he could hear it. Leon narrowed his eyes as he looked down towards his chest, half expecting to see the movement through his shirt. 'Quit acting like one of those awful characters you write,' Leon scolded himself.

In an effort to distract himself he diverted his attention to his mail as he crossed the living room into the kitchen. The first envelope was his electric bill, which he tossed on the counter to deal with later. The second envelope made him inhale sharply, his blood running cold. He simply read the name 'Laguna Loire' in elegant script and his frown deepened. He was clutching the envelope so hard it wrinkled and after a deep breath he simply ripped it in two. But that didn't feel enough and so he ripped it in half again, and again, and again until it was nothing but a pile of half inch scraps of paper he let fall to his feet. One of the pieces fluttered down right onto his boot and he could make out the one word that was still in tact. regret. Leon scoffed, turning sharply away and the piece fell face down amidst the others.

Once every few months his alleged "father", (and he used that term with air quotes even in his head), attempted to contact him, by letter of all things. The first time Leon skimmed the first few lines out of curiosity before ripping it up in disgust. After that he didn't even bother to open them.

His mood was dark as he sat at his desk and opened a word document, but he couldn't deny the rush of electricity pumping through his veins and gathering at his fingertips. He set his hands on the keys, almost as if in reverence as he waited for the rush of words to come through.

The first thought that Alexander Greyhardt had upon entering the crowded ballroom was that the second daughter of the Fawn family had eyes so clear and blue they seemed to be the definitive authority on the word. The sky, the ocean, his own eyes in comparison seemed to be nothing but poorly inspired imitators. This is what he said to his companion, who laughed, clapped him on his shoulder and offered to introduce them.

The sun pulled itself across the sky as Leon wrote and wrote, nearly completing his next story for the magazine. The words seemed to pour out of him and he wouldn't stop until they did. He thought of watching Cloud unload the U-Haul, of the surge he felt when their eyes met that first time and he wrote of long glances across the ballroom, of eyes meeting around the forms of their respective partners as the two waltzed with everyone but each other. He wrote of Alexanders dejection as he mingled with guests only half aware, wondering how on earth he could ever hope to approach the beautiful, respected woman and he felt his own mood darken.

He recalled his meeting with Cloud on the stoop, the inexplicable hammering of his own heart.

"I haven't seen you around here before?'

Alexander looked down and snapped up from his leisurely position leaning against the balcony when he realized he was looking into the clear and seemingly bottomless blue eyes of Elizabeth Fawn.

"I have just arrived."

"For the summer?" she asked, her voice soft and confident.

He nodded, and moved to steal another glance at her eyes but soon found he could not look away.

"I don't believe we will be seeing very much of each other then." she said, the disappointment in her eyes raised his confidence.

"That would be an unbearable shame," he said, so quietly the sound of the summer night life almost drowned it out completely.

Elizabeth smiled and he knew, now and forever he was hers.

"Dance with me?" she asked.

Leon felt nauseous. He leaned away from his computer, and stretched his arms above his head. The clock above him read 9:15 PM. He blinked hard, only mildly shocked to suddenly be aware that the room was dark except for the light of his computer screen and the faint glow of a nearby streetlamp filtering in through the open window.

The sick feeling went away as he put thoughts of his story out of his mind, focusing instead on the fact that he only had about a half an hour left to order dinner before all the nearby restaurants stopped delivering. He stood from his desk, his legs wobbily as they adjusted to movement once again. He grabbed the menu for his usual takeout place and picked up his phone, dialing the number nearly from memory. For the hundredth time that night his mind drifted to his new blond neighbor.

"Cloud." he said quietly, testing the feel of the name rolling off of his tongue.

He thought back to his story and he could feel the nausea returning.

Leon was a liar for a living. He told stories, he made things up. The easiest and most popular lie of his to tell was love. He never felt guilty because the word fiction in the upper right hand corner absolved him of all responsibility to the truth. Leon had been doing this for years and years.

He thought of the blonds smile and just how many times he had wrung it through his hands like a wet towel so he could write this story.

For the first time since his first assignment at She… Leon felt like a phony.

Leon threw his pen across the desk. Someone had been out in the hallway talking loudly for the past five minutes and Leon had just about had it. He brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He couldn't quite make out the words being said, but he could hear the sounds, practically feel the presence of whoever was in the hallway disturbing the peace. Leon stood up from his desk and crossed the brief space from it to the door, intent on giving whoever was making noise one of his oh so effective looks of death.

He opened the door with more force than was necessary, and stepped out into the hallway just in time to see the person responsible for his annoyance kick their door in frustration. All the tension left his body as he recognized the shock of blond hair and those definitive blue eyes turned towards him. Leon gripped the banister, looking down into the flushed face he had just been writing about. He realized then that he had it all wrong, that he would always have it wrong. There was no way he could properly pull the planes and curves of the others face into any of his stories.

"Sorry," Cloud said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's just...I forgot my keys and I can't get a hold of my roommate.

"It's fine," Leon said quietly, unable to take his eyes off of the other. He was too busy ignoring the sudden thudding of his heart to think about the implications of their prolonged gaze. Cloud was the first to break their gaze, looking to the side as his cheeks darkened.

"I didn't mean to make so much noise, it won't happen again."

Leon nodded, torn between not wanting his interaction with Cloud to be over, and the need to do work. The building was old and held onto the cold for so long it was often twice as cold in the hallways as it actually was outside. He could see that the other man was shivering slightly.

"Do you...want to wait inside?" he found himself saying before he even decided to.

Cloud looked as shocked as Leon felt, "uhm...I wouldn't want to be a bother…"

"It's no problem. Come," Leon said, turning to go back into his apartment.

There was a moments hesitation before he heard Cloud ascending the stairs. The sight of the blond in his doorway sent a thrill throughout his entire body. Cloud closed the door behind him, exhaling heavily as he took in the warmth of the apartment.

"Thank you," he said with that smile that made Leon feel like a hundred chocobos were sitting on his chest. "It's colder in the hallway than it actually is outside!"

Leon nodded, and gave his apartment the once over now that it was actually too late to do anything about it. He never had company, and the last thing he'd ever expected was to have Cloud in his apartment, now or ever. It was empty enough that it was impossible to be too messy. He still hadn't gone around to actually building any of the book cases he bought, so his extensive book collection was still sorted into precariously high piles on his living room floor. He cringed as he saw Cloud looking at them, but then Cloud looked at him and smiled with his whole face and he had to look away.

"Would you like something to drink?" Leon asked, walking into the small area sectioned off for a kitchen. He opened up his cabinet which was completely empty save two packages of instant noodles, an empty tea box and a few packages of instant coffee.

Cloud shook his head, "No, thank you."

Leon turned away from the cabinets, leaning on the counter to watch Cloud look around his apartment. Standing in the Autumn light like that he really was almost unbelievably handsome. He was high cheekbones and a perfectly V-shaped jawline that mirrored the delicate arch of his golden brows and the fullness of his lips. Leon thought that Cloud had the type of lips you couldn't look at and not think of kissing. He imagined crossing the distance, grabbing that perfect chin, and kissing the blond senseless.

Leon did not know what to do, so he shut his eyes.

Love was the greatest fiction story ever told. It was easy because it was fake and looking at Cloud made it easier but for different reasons.. Knowing that there was someone in the world who made his heartbeat speed up was both exciting and terrifying. Leon did not know what to think.

"Leon,"

Leon had never thought much of his name but he couldn't help but think it sounded like something special when Cloud said it. Then he cringed at the thought. He knew this scene. He wrote this scene.

He cleared his throat, "Yes?"

Cloud smiled and shook his head, "Just trying it out."

Leon was torn between the desire to cross the living room and gather Cloud in his arms and the urge to put his head in his oven.

"Thanks for letting me wait here Leon, I appreciate it." Cloud said quietly. When he looked at Leon it felt sort of like he was searching for something, but also like he already knew everything there was to know and he was waiting for you to catch up.

"It's nothing." Leon said almost like a reflex.

"Really?" Cloud responded, "Because...well...you never really seemed very friendly."

Leon blinked at him.

"Wait that sounded really rude. I don't mean to be rude! I mean, I don't know you at all or anything but you don't seem very interested in getting to know me….or...anyone...else. Oh gosh. Please don't kick me out." Cloud looked like the house was on fire.

It started a low rumble in his throat and climbed its way up until Leon was laughing. Cloud looked surprised, then alarmed, and then he was laughing too. Leon leaned on the arm of the couch for support and he looked at Cloud through still laughing eyes and he felt a warmth he hadn't felt...ever.

Cloud stopped laughing and mirrored his look and the feeling grew until it was radiating throughout his entire body. Leon realized looking at Cloud looking at him that he was writing it all wrong. That he had been writing this moment his entire career and he didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"I'm...not good with people," Leon said finally, folding his arms over his chest.

"Me neither," Cloud said, "I'm a lot better than I used to be though. Practice helps,"

Leon's lips twitched like he wanted to smile, "I'll keep that in mind."

Cloud put his hands in his pockets, and leaned forward, "If you're interested in practicing...I wouldn't mind helping."

"Like a social guinea pig?" Leon said.

Cloud grinned at him, opening his mouth like he was going to respond, but his phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, "Ah, it's my roommate! Excuse me."

He turned away from Leon then and Leon walked back into the kitchen, more so that he wouldn't have to awkwardly hover over Clouds conversation than for any immediate need. He filled a cup with tap water and focused on the way it slid down his throat. Standing at the sink he was far enough to be able to tune out whatever it was Cloud was saying to the person on the other end of the phone.

'What is it about you?' he thought as he watched the others lips move and thought about kissing him. It wasn't just that he was attractive. Leon could tune out attractive. It was something else. It made him want to write something true.

Leon was confused. Actually confused was the exact wrong word to describe what Leon was, but it was the closest. And he found he didn't really mind being confused if it meant more of Cloud.

But there was a voice in the back of Leon's head, one that had been there for as long as he remembered.

No one ever stays it said, over and over.

Cloud finished his conversation and put his phone into his pocket as he walked towards the kitchen. "She said I can go pick up her keys whenever."

Leon tried not to be disappointed. He watched Cloud watch him.

"That's lucky," Leon finally said.

Cloud got that look in his more blue than blue eyes that made him look much older than he was. Like he was one hundred miles ahead and waiting for you to catch up.

Leon realized he didn't know a single thing about Cloud, but he really, really wanted to. It was his own thought but it surprised him. He felt like a creepy obsessed pervert but Cloud was smiling at him.

"Are you...do you need to go right now?" Leon asked. It seemed he was full of surprises today. He willed the blood to not rush straight to his face.

Cloud shook his head, "I have lots and lots of time. Do you want to practice?"

Leon wanted to smile. He bit his tongue instead.

"Are you hungry Leon?" Cloud said his name like it was special. Like he wanted to say it.

If Leon thought about it, he was hungry. Ravenous actually. He hadn't stopped to eat a thing all day.

Even if he wasn't hungry though, he knew he would have said yes if it meant more Cloud.

Leon tried his hardest not to have the running narrative of one of his characters in his head while he walked side by side with Cloud. Neither one said much. Leon could not trust his hands and so he walked with them curled into fists in his pockets. Cloud walked in a very slight, almost unnoticeable sort of zig zag. The only reason he noticed was because every now and then Clouds bicep would brush against his elbow.

When they arrived at the diner, Cloud entered first raising two fingers to the hostess who grabbed menus and turned towards the dining area. Leon followed the two of them into a corner booth right by a window, just big enough for two people. The hostess smiled and laid the menus down on the table before turning away. There was more silence as they removed their jackets and studied the menu. The waitress brought coffee and took their orders and then they were alone again. Cloud leaned his elbow on the ledge of the window and dropped his chin into his hand, and watched Leon.

Leon glanced at him, then looked away. He drank some coffee and looked out the window. Then he turned his gaze back to Cloud and couldn't look away, found he didn't want to.

"So…" Cloud said, taking a sip of his own coffee. "What do you do for a living Leon?"

"I'm a writer," Leon said, although it felt sort of like a lie so he added, "Sort of."

"Sort of a writer?" Cloud asked, twirling the edge of the table cloth in his fingers.

"I mean...I write things. I get paid for writing those things. But I wouldn't consider them mine."

Cloud looked confused, "I don't understand."

"It doesn't come from me. Basically I write what I know people want to read...even though I generally think it's stupid." 'Basically nothing I'd want to show you.' Leon thought, although he'd never in a million years say that out loud.

"Okay...I sort of get that. I think," Cloud laughed, "Anything I'd recognize?"

"I hope not," Leon said before he could think twice.

Cloud laughed again.

Leon was not funny. Leon had never been funny but he wanted to make Cloud laugh again and again and again.

"Try me," the blond said.

Leon didn't particularly want to tell Cloud that he wrote stupid love stories for a magazine geared towards teenaged girls but he found himself already unable to deny the other anything he asked for. "Do you know the magazine She…?"

Recognition flashed across Clouds face and Leon's heart sank into his stomach. Did he read it? What were the chances that he actually read that magazine? Would he recognize himself in every story published in the last two months?

"Ah, that's a bi-weekly woman's magazine right? I've never touched it but my roommate subscribes."

Leon was relieved, but only a little bit, "Well...I work there. I write their fiction stories."

"Really?!" Cloud exclaimed, and he started to laugh, "Sorry, oh god sorry I'm not laughing at you. It's just so unexpected."

Leon felt his face heating up in embarrassment.

"They're wonderful stories, my roommate has read some to me. They're really lovely, I actually really enjoy them. I just...I pictured they were written by someone more...You don't really seem like the type to write such romantic stories."

"I'm not." Leon said, "Like I said, I write what people want to read. It's all fake."

Cloud folded his hands in front of him, "So...you write beautiful romance...but you don't like romance?"

Something Leon couldn't quite name passed over Cloud's face.

Leon shrugged, "I just don't buy into it. Romance, love, those are things people like me and the owners of She… and Hallmark and candy companies everywhere created to sell you something." Leon had felt that way his entire life, but sitting across from Cloud and saying it now made him feel sort of silly.

Cloud made a thoughtful sound and leaned back, looking at Leon like he knew more about Leon than Leon. "Are you seeing someone Leon?" he asked.

Leon shook his head, drinking his coffee just so he had something to do with his face.

"Have you ever been in love?"

"I don't think so," Leon said.

There were several heartbeats of thoughtful silence. Leon counted them against his own. He felt nervous, like he was hiding something and he knew the person he was trying to fool was on to him.

"Fascinating. How can you write things like Alexander and Elizabeth and not be in love, not ever have been in love?"

"It's easy. There's a formula. Guy sees girl, or maybe girl sees guy, or any combination of the two across the room or the street or the platform. They are put in a position where they talk. Insert flowery language about heartbeats and beauty and blah blah blah. Happily ever after. Love works in fiction because you build up to it and then you can fold it up nice and neatly into a conclusion. That's why love only works in fiction. In real life we're constantly changing, what are the odds that you'll find someone that will change at the same pace? Whose changing forms you'll like in every new form of yourself?"

Leon realized he was dangerously close to ranting and stopped talking, thankful for the waitress who chose that time to arrive with her food.

Cloud wasn't done with the conversation though, "Yea, of course the odds aren't exactly in your favor. But that's what makes it so amazing isn't it? That's what makes it special."

Leon shrugged, "If you say so."

Cloud looked distressed, "So you're telling me you've never felt that? You've never looked at someone and wanted to know everything about them? You've never wanted to just be near someone and to touch them all the time and felt...I don't know. Felt real next to them? Warm, and crazy, and alive, and whole?"

Leon thought of standing at his window and locking eyes with Cloud for the first time. He thought of seeing him on the stoop, seeing him standing in his living room. Walking next to him down the sidewalk and feeling an electric current throughout his entire body every time the other accidentally brushed against him. He thought of balling his hands into fists in his pockets because he couldn't trust himself to not touch the other, just to make sure he was real. Leon raised a forkful of his eggs to his mouth and shook his head no.

That was the first time he lied to Cloud and he felt it in his stomach. He absolutely hated it. The look passed across Clouds face again but was gone before he could pin it down and study it.

"Okay. So maybe it's not real. Maybe it's not possible. Isn't it worth it though, to try?"

"No," Leon answered, a little too fast.

Cloud's face fell and the awful feeling morphed from guilt and shame to something else, morphed into fear and confusion. He had to fight the urge to get up and walk out of the diner, out of downtown, past his apartment. He had to fight the urge to get up and walk out and walk until he was himself again. But he was sitting across from Cloud and he didn't want to let go of that just yet, so he settled for changing the subject.

"What do you do?" he asked.

There was that look again, but then, "I'm a chef. Well...not yet. I'm studying to be a chef. I work as a cook over at a bar, the Seventh Heaven. Do you know it?"

Leon did. "So...food is your thing?"

Cloud smiled at him, "Food is my thing."

"What's the verdict on all of this?" Leon said, motioning across the table with his fork.

Cloud made a show of looking around the restaurant before leaning in conspiratorially, "Amateur."

Leon laughed, "Amateur? This is the best food I've had in a long time."

Cloud looked appalled, "That's a tragedy. I'll have to make you something."

Leon dropped his fork onto his plate, was Cloud flirting with him? It may have been awhile since he'd dated anyone, and he may not have had a lot of experience, but there was something about how the blond sat, all attention directly on him and the permanent mischievous tone that made him recognize something. His stomach flipped and he reached for his coffee to hide his smile, knowing that he probably shouldn't flirt back, but wanting to, "Perhaps. I'll warn you though, I can be a tough critic."

Cloud looked at the scrambled egg breakfast dish Leon had just raved about and then looked up at Leon in disbelief, "I doubt that."

When Cloud talked about food his entire face lit up. Leon tried to listen, but he didn't really know anything about food aside from the fact that he needed it to live. He survived on instant noodles and takeout and so he mostly just watched Clouds lips move and fought the urge to kiss him.

Leon felt sort of like this was a date, their first date.

Then he stomped the thought out like it was on fire.

They parted on Traverse and Twilight. Leon watched Cloud go, walking swiftly away in a perfectly straight line, no subtle zigzag at all, and he felt the fear rising in his stomach again. Then, when he was almost a block away Cloud looked back. He saw him still standing there and he waved.

Leon's eyes widened. I like you He thought as if it was the most alarming realization of his life. I like you more than I've ever liked anything ever. He liked Cloud in the way that he wrote about. In the way he didn't think was possible, or real. In a way that was risky and dangerous and altogether unacceptable.

Leon spun on his heel and walked deliberately back home. He got to his apartment, locked the door behind him and didn't leave for three days.