OOC: RP Log Cloud and Leon
Who: Cloud and Leon
What: Cloud needs a cell phone charger and a few other things.
When: New Year's Day
Where: Leon's house in Radiant Garden, IKEA, random shops
Why: Because shopping is fun.
Also: The couch purchased in this log is this one in Idemo Dark Blue. Follow up to this log. We'll hopefully finish the other log tonight. :D
Leon sighed as he pushed himself up from the table to dump his dirty dishes in the sink. He'd get to them later, when he was more awake and less well-fed. He turned to reach for Cloud's. "Are you finished?"
Cloud took one last bite before pushing the plate towards Leon. "Yeah. I didn't know you could cook."
"Self-taught," Leon told him, and picked up the dish to add with his own. "I need to eat, don't I."
"Tifa cooks for me when I'm there. Otherwise it's restaurants or things that don't need cooking." Cloud was capable of cooking enough to be able to feed himself if need be, it just didn't taste very good when he did.
"Yeah, well, no one here to cook for me anymore, and there are no restaurants around." Leon sat at the table again just to have somewhere to sit, tugging his cup of coffee closer to nurse.
Cloud shrugged, he had been attempting to give a compliment, but it didn't seem he was very good at giving them - or Leon was just really bad at getting when something was meant as one. "I should probably call Matt so he's not getting here late tonight." He reached for his cellphone and and was getting ready to go to the phone directory in it when the screen flickered with 'low battery' and died. He stared at the phone. Well, that just figures. "Do you have a charger that will work with this?"
Leon leaned over the table to squint at it a moment before leaning back again. "No. I don't even recognize that kind. Is the battery dead?"
"It just died." Cloud frowned and put it away. He didn't know Matt's number off by heart, he didn't know any numbers off by heart. There was no reason to memorize them when you had a cell phone... except for when things like this happen.
Leon shrugged and nodded at his kitchen phone. "Just use that one, then."
"I don't know his number," Cloud said. "If I did I would have asked if I could use yours instead of asking for a charger."
Leon frowned. "You don't know any of it?"
"No. I don't normally go anywhere without my charger." Except for when I'm running after Kadaj in the middle of the night trying to stop him from... Cloud cut off the train of thought before it could make him feel any worse than he already was. "Is there anywhere nearby where I can get a charger?"
Leon raised an eyebrow. "In Radiant Garden?" Had the man forgotten how small the town was already? "No. But we can borrow a Gummi if you need to go elsewhere."
"Is there somewhere closer than going all the way back to my world to get a charger?" Cloud sighed.
"I'm sure there are other worlds," Leon thought allowed, frowning again. "Do you want to go look?"
"Yes," Cloud tapped his fingers on the cell phone case attached to his belt. Matt was going to think something happened. And knowing Matt, it was going to be the wrong something.
"I want to shower first," Leon told him. He tipped his head back to drain the rest of his coffee quickly. "Then we can go wherever you want."
"Okay." Cloud got up and headed to the living room to sit on the couch, he had been exaggerating slightly last night when he'd said the kitchen chairs were more comfortable than the couch. But not by much. He'd already taken a shower while Leon was fixing lunch.
Leon got up and locked himself in the bathroom for a while, finally coming out with a towel wrapped around his waist before locking himself in his bedroom to get dressed. When he emerged a few minutes later he was wearing his usual white shirt and leather pants, sans-belts as he worked quickly at towel-drying his hair. "Are you wearing your clothes from yesterday?"
While Leon had been in the shower, Cloud had shifted one hundred and forty-six times on the couch. That he'd counted at least. No couch should be so scratchy and uncomfortable as this one. He decided if they happened to see any furniture stores while looking for a charger, he was getting Leon a new couch. It was the least he could after putting him through all this trouble.
Leon returned and Cloud stopped counting. It took a moment for him to process the question before he nodded. "I didn't bring any others with me."
"Do you want to borrow some?"
It was one thing to borrow a t-shirt for bed, but to walk around all day in Leon's clothes. In public no less. However, the down side was wearing clothes that weren't clean and probably a lot worse smelling than he realized. "I don't know, do you have anything other than a bunch of those jackets like you always wear?"
Leon raised an eyebrow in challenge, daring Cloud to say something insulting about his jacket. "Go look."
Cloud wasn't stupid. He'd save the jacket insults for over the internet. Where he'd be physically far, far away from Leon. He stood up and headed towards Leon's bedroom and began rummaging through his dresser, trying to find something that wouldn't look ridiculous. He finally settled on a a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. They didn't fit as well as his own jeans, but with the belt they weren't too bad. After a few moments to adjust to the fit, Cloud headed back to the living room.
Leon looked up at him from where he'd been pulling on his shoes on the couch, towel draped around his neck. He eyed the man for a moment before returning to his task. "Looks like it fits, at least."
"You got some laundry that I can toss my dirty clothes in with?" Cloud wanted to be able to return to his own clothes as soon as possible after they got back.
There was a small laundry room right next to the bathroom. Leon nodded at it. "In there."
Cloud quickly got a load started in the washer then joined Leon in the living room yet again. "Ready?" Cloud wasn't trying to rush, but he was more than a little eager to get back with the cell phone charger.
"Just about." Leon stood and tossed his towel in the bathroom, then went back to his bedroom to put his belts on and his jacket, just to be purposely obtuse. He returned a few minutes later. "Now I'm good."
Cloud rolled his eyes at the jacket but kept his mouth shut about it. "If you say so."
Leon resisted the urge to roll his eyes and led Cloud to the door. "Let's go, then."
With a nod, Cloud followed him out the door and they made the ten minute walk back to Cid's garage.
Cid wasn't around again, which didn't surprise Leon, since it was New Year's day. So he simply grabbed the keys off the wall and opened the door for the two of them to climb in. He turned again to Cloud after starting the engine. "Where to first?"
"Somewhere that sells cell phones and accessories." Cloud settled into the passenger seat, hoping that this drive would be less awkward than the last one they'd taken together.
This time Leon did roll his eyes. "I meant what world, because I don't know of any that sell that kind of thing. Would yours?"
"Yeah, mine does, but if we're going all the way there I can just get the one I already have." Cloud sighed, while returning home to get his things wouldn't be so bad, his things were in the church and he wasn't ready to return there.
"Then we'll just wander a little until we find somewhere closer," Leon muttered, distracted as he leaned over the front panel and began scanning the coordinates already programmed in there. He chose a promising-looking one and concentrated on getting the Gummi up in the sky.
"Whatever," Cloud crossed his arms and looked straight ahead. Hopefully this wandering wasn't going to take longer than it would for them to have just gone back to his world.
Leon sighed as he settled back in his seat for the trip. Then something occurred to him. "Do you have money?"
"Right here," Cloud said, pulling his wallet out of the borrowed jeans. That, like his cell phone, was always on him.
"All right. Just checking." Hopefully this first world would have what they needed.
"I'm not a mooch," Cloud replied.
Leon glanced at him. "That's not what I was implying. I just wanted to check."
"I wouldn't ask you to take me to the store if I didn't have money." Cloud let out an irritated sigh.
Leon glanced at him again. "You're very irritable today."
"Sorry I'm not a ray of sunshine the day after my..." Cloud couldn't finish his sentence. Instead he bit down on his lip and looked away, crossing his arms tighter.
Leon sighed. He been half-hoping Cloud had managed not to think about that today. No such luck. "I wasn't trying to insult you."
"Whatever," Cloud didn't care if he was trying to or not, the fact remained that he did.
Leon narrowed his eyes at Cloud. "I wasn't. I was making sure you hadn't forgotten it, that's all."
"I didn't forget it." He let out a sigh and sank back further into his seat.
"That's all I wanted to know," Leon said again, frowning. "Do you have some sort of complex about people thinking you're a mooch?"
"No, would you stop asking pointless questions?" Cloud shifted in his seat and wondered how close they were to this world they were going to.
"Only if you'll stop taking them the wrong way," Leon replied irritably. There was a planet barely visible in the distance, and he steered the Gummi towards it.
Cloud glared and silently watched as they drove toward the planet. Hopefully it would be somewhere useful.
Leon tried to get rid of his annoyance during the drive. The planet looked promising enough, and he steered them toward a decent looking city before setting down and cutting the engine.
As they landed, Cloud looked around spotting several cell phone shops, even more clothing stores and an Ikea down the road. It looked like they actually found somewhere decent.
Leon glanced at Cloud as he climbed out of the vehicle. "Good enough?"
"Yeah," Cloud sounded slightly less irritable now that he had the opportunity to get the cell phone charger, some clothes that weren't Leon's and maybe even get Leon a better couch.
Leon nodded and started off to the nearest cell phone shop. "Good."
Cloud followed in the same direction. The shop was small, but they happened to have exactly what he was looking for - for twice what it should have cost. He could have just gone onto the next store, but he didn't feel like wasting time shopping around and with all the deliveries he had do to the holidays, he had more than enough to worry about such a small over pricing as there was on the charger.
Leon eyed the charger. He recognized the overpricing, but it didn't look like Cloud minded, so he decided not to say anything. "Is that all you wanted?"
"From here," Cloud said. "Since we're here I figured I'd get a few other things until I'm ready to go home."
Leon was mildly surprised, but it wasn't like he'd had anything planned, so he didn't mind all that much. "What else?"
"Clothes. I'd rather not keep borrowing." Cloud finished paying then left the store with his purchase. There were several clothing stores as they walked down the street, almost all of them specializing in women's fashion. There had to be a men's store around here somewhere.
"Don't you have clothes in your house?" Leon asked with a frown, following now because he wasn't sure where Cloud was headed. "How long are you planning to stay out?"
"I'm just going to get a couple of shirts and another pair of jeans. I don't know how long I'll be staying with Matt." Cloud finally spotted a men's clothing store and headed in. He didn't plan to take very long, it wasn't like he was looking for anything in particular.
Leon looked around himself in vague interest. He didn't go clothes shopping very often. "This Matt must be pretty close, for you to invite yourself over for so long."
"I stayed over for several days before just to visit," Cloud replied, grabbing a pair of jeans in his size, a sweater and a couple of dark blue t-shirts.
"Really." Leon poked at a rack of clothes curiously. "Sounds nice."
Cloud took the clothes he'd selected up to the register to pay. "It is." If Leon expected details, he wasn't getting them.
Leon figured that out from Cloud's dismissive tone, and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets as he waited.
The shopkeeper handed Cloud the bag with his clothes and he tossed his new cell phone charger in with them. As they exited the store, Cloud turned to Leon. "There's one more place I want to go, but we should move the Gummi closer."
Leon frowned, confused. "Where? And what for?"
Cloud pointed to the Ikea. "We're replacing that scratchy couch of yours."
"What?" Leon looked at Cloud in surprise. "Since when do you have money for a couch?"
"The holiday season just ended. There's huge sales and I did a lot of business." Looking away, Cloud quietly added, "And you've gone out of your way to help me."
"That doesn't mean you owe me a couch." Leon crossed his arms. "It wasn't that big of a deal, you don't owe me anything."
"You're getting a new couch. The one you have is awful." Cloud's mind had been made up since before they left the house. He wasn't about to change it now.
"Well if you're not going to be staying on it, I don't see what the big deal it," Leon told him irritably.
"No one should have to even sit on it, Leon." Cloud glared at him. He wasn't taking no for an answer.
"I don't need you to buy me a couch." Leon glared back. "I can buy it myself."
"I'm buying you a couch whether you like it or not. But if we go now you can at least have a say in what it looks like." Cloud walked over to the Gummi.
Leon glared as he stomped over as well. "Why?"
"Because in the time you were in the shower I shifted on that thing a hundred and forty-six times trying to get comfortable." Cloud replied.
Leon snorted. "Don't exaggerate. It's not that bad."
"I'm not. I counted." Cloud crossed his arms.
Leon glared as he opened up the Gummi for them. "You're impossible."
Cloud stepped in and set his bag on the ground. "So?"
"So I can't believe I'm doing this," Leon muttered, turning the engine. He moved the Gummi closer and then glared at Cloud. "Happy?"
"No, but I'm appeased." Cloud looked smug, which was the only expression he'd made since the events of last night that wasn't sour or sad.
Mumbling something unintelligible, Leon slammed his door shut and made his way to the store. This was so stupid he couldn't even find words for it. And embarrassing to boot.
Cloud had never been in an Ikea before, but he'd heard about them. They were supposed to have anything and everything you could need for a house. Of course, stepping into the store made him realize that a store that has this much must be huge. But there were maps and it shouldn't be too hard to find the couches and then get out of there.
Leon felt distinctly out of place as soon as they stepped inside. This was the kind of place he would have gone to with Rinoa, not Cloud, and he didn't even think he needed a new couch, so he thought the entire thing was ridiculous. So he scowled.
Cloud headed up the stairs and found a maze of furniture in front of them. "Um..." He looked back down at the map and said "There's a couple of shortcuts we can take to get to the living room stuff faster..."
Leon had never been in a home furnishing store like this before, and he was practically lost already. He peered down at the map from over Cloud's shoulder. "Are you sure we won't get lost if we don't take the normal path?"
"We just have to follow the map," Cloud said. He pointed to the two shortcuts. "It should be easy enough."
Leon shrugged. "If you say so."
After half an hour of wandering and dealing with Leon's scowling, Cloud sighed. They were lost. "Er..."
Leon raised an eyebrow at him, arms crossed.
"Sorry. I've never been in a place like this before." Cloud spotted an employee (finally they were so scarce) and she directed them to where the living room furniture was.
Leon sighed as they finally arrived at the living room section. There had to be a hundred different couches there. He looked at Cloud again. "You realize this is ridiculous, right."
"I didn't know they had so much of everything," Cloud replied. "But we didn't go through all of that to leave here without a couch."
Leon rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. The man had a point, however small it was. But still. "Do you have any idea what kind to get?"
"The kind that pulls out into a bed," Cloud said. "That way if anyone ever unexpectedly stays the night again you don't have to give up your bed, or share."
"Are you trying to tell me you'll be back?" Leon asked, eyebrow raised.
Cloud rolled his eyes. "No, but you know other people."
"You're the only one who's stayed the night."
"Whatever."
Leon sighed. "Well let's get this over with, then." He stepped forward to begin perusing the maze of couches.
Cloud noticed a lot of ugly couches, a lot of cheap couches, and a few nice ones. He also noticed a couple fawning over one of the ugliest couches in the place. Cloud then spotted the perfect couch. Well, he thought it was perfect. Leon didn't have much in his living room and this couch would do something to fill the empty space. "Hey, what about this one?"
Leon glanced at it. And frowned. "It's big."
"Yeah, and you have a lot of empty space." Cloud then noticed the slipcover samples and pointed them out. "Look, they even have it in a shade to match your jacket."
Leon rolled his eyes. "I don't where my jacket inside. But whatever, it's fine. I'm paying for at least half." It felt weird for Cloud to buy him something as domestic as a couch. They hardly even knew one another.
"Fine," Cloud said with a shrug. Half a couch was still enough to make up for everything. Especially when he saw the price tag. He jotted down the bin numbers that the display listed and began walking towards what was hopefully the exit.
Leon followed unquestioningly, still unsure why he was letting the blond do this, and unsure why he was playing along.
They followed the furniture maze to a set of escalators that led downstairs to a ton of shopping carts, flatbed carts (which he grabbed one of) and another maze of stuff, this time not just for display. It was all things they'd passed upstairs (and then some). Cloud scratched his head, wondering where the 'bins' were that the couches were in.
"Maybe we should find an employee," Leon suggested, noticing how confused Cloud looked.
"No, we'll find it." He'd already embarrassed himself and asked for directions once, he wasn't going to do it again. He kept walking through the store, eventually finding huge aisles filled with boxes, each section of the aisle marked with a letter and a number.
Leon reached over and took the slip of paper Cloud had written the information on, peering at it with a frown. After a moment he handed it back. "I can't read your handwriting. What are we looking for."
"My handwriting is perfectly legible." Cloud then read off the five bin numbers that contained the parts of the couch.
Leon snorted, but didn't press it. After hearing the numbers he began scanning the aisles for the right one. Eventually he nodded back at Cloud. "This one."
Cloud pushed the cart over to the bin and lifted the heavy box off the shelf and onto the cart. "Next one?"
Leon was already working on it, and set it down on the cart with a grunt. "We have to assemble it?"
"No, it'll assemble itself as soon as we take it out of the box," Cloud replied, rolling his eyes. The final three bins were the slipcover, the mattress and the cushions and then they were headed for the checkout.
"That would explain the price," Leon grumbled, but otherwise didn't complain as they split the cost between them and worked on lugging the thing outside to the Gummi.
"The price wasn't that bad." He'd seen Tifa eying a couch in some catalog that cost a little more than twice as much as this one. Once everything was loaded into the Gummi, Cloud hopped into the passenger seat.
Leon climbed into the driver's side and paused to look at Cloud after turning the engine. "Anywhere else?"
"No, that's it."
"All right." Leon started for the sky, eager to get home now that he'd spent money. He hadn't even been planning to buy anything. And what the hell was he going to do with the old couch?
Cloud realized as they were heading back that since he'd pretty much forced Leon into getting the new couch he'd at least have to help him put it together. It would be rude not to.
Leon was, in fact, expecting Cloud to help with the couch, and so didn't actually mention it during the trip, instead focusing his attention on where he was going to land so that they wouldn't have to haul said couch all the way across town.
Cloud began tapping his fingers on his leg, mostly bored due to the fact that the Ikea trip had managed to make him stop thinking about Kadaj. Of course, were he to be aware of this, he'd likely only start thinking about it again.
Leon glanced at him. "In a hurry to go to Matt's?" He really had no tact at all.
"What?" Cloud asked. He had managed to zone out in that brief amount of time. "Why do you ask that?" But now that Leon mentioned it, he did want to see Matt and thinking about that reminded him why - his fingers stilled.
"You seem impatient," Leon told him, frowning. "Relax."
"I was relaxed." Cloud shifted in his seat. "I hadn't thought about it all afternoon until just now." He gave Leon a pointed look.
Leon glanced at him, then sighed. "Sorry."
"Whatever," Cloud said with a sigh and looked away.
Leon looked at him again. "I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known."
"Now you know," Cloud said. He still wasn't looking at Leon.
Leon rolled his eyes. He knew it was his fault the blond was in such a foul mood, but it was still annoying, especially when he was actually trying to be nice. "Whatever."
Cloud didn't say anything, just sat there. Hopefully putting together the couch would take his mind of of it long enough for his phone to charge so he could call Matt and get out of there. Maybe if he were at Leon's under any other circumstances it wouldn't be so bad, but then, he couldn't think of any other circumstances he'd actually be there under and frowned.
Leon didn't say anything else either, though his irritation slowly dissipated as he concentrated on driving.
Cloud tried to push the memories out of his mind, tried to block out the scenes replaying in his head. Matt would be able to talk him out of anything. Not in the convincing kind of way, but in the won't shut up and happens to distract you by talking about everything and nothing kind of way.
Leon slowed the Gummi down as they approached Radiant Garden again, and managed to land it in the street relatively close to his front door in order to get the couch out. He flipped off the engine and climbed out to get the box from the back.
Cloud grabbed his bag before heading to the back to grab one of the other boxes. Maybe, if he was lucky, once they had everything inside, Leon would let him stay here while he returned the Gummi.
Leon struggled to lift one of the heavier boxes and then moved to actually get it inside his house. He hoped, halfway there, that it would actually fit through the door. He hadn't thought of that before.
Cloud waited patiently as he could behind Leon, waiting for the other man to get inside the house so he could set the box down.
It took a moment to get the door open, but when he did Leon shuffled his way inside and dumped the box just inside the door, quickly shoving it aside far enough for Cloud to set his box down as well.
Setting the box down, Cloud moved out of the way to find somewhere to put his bag so it wouldn't get crushed or lost. He then headed back outside to grab two of the three remaining boxes.
Leon followed him to grab the last, and set it down with a tired sigh before pausing to look around himself, then at the Gummi sitting in the middle of the street outside. "I'd better return that," he told Cloud. "I'll be back in a minute."
"You should take the old couch with you. I'm sure Cid'll find use for it," Cloud said, relieved that Leon wasn't going to make him take a pointless 10 minute walk back from the garage.
Leon nodded. That was a good idea. "Help me get it out there, then." He moved to lift one end.
Cloud nodded and moved to the old scratchy couch. He lifted one end and waited for Leon to grab the other before walking backwards toward the door.
Leon followed, careful not to ram a corner into any walls. He'd left the Gummi open, so he helped heft it inside before closing it again and digging out his keys. "I'll be right back."
"Okay." Cloud waited until Leon had the Gummi started before heading back into the house. He grabbed the cell phone charger out of the bag, found an outlet and plugged it in. Once that was set he debated changing into the clothes he bought when he remembered that the ones he was wearing last night were in the wash. He changed over the load then headed back to the living room. Changing clothes seemed silly to do right now. He could do that after putting the couch together while waiting for Matt to arrive.
It took a bit longer than expected to actually find Cid and let the man know why there was a scratchy old couch in his Gummi, but Leon managed, and arrived back home about half an hour later than scheduled.
When Leon hadn't returned within ten minutes, Cloud got restless and began opening the boxes, getting things set out so that they could put it together as soon as Leon got back.
Leon was mildly surprised to see this as he stepped inside the door, and closed it behind him with a curious glance at Cloud. "All set up already?"
"Yeah," Cloud replied. He held up the directions. "Should be easy enough to put together, the instructions are all in illustrations."
Leon snorted softly in amusement and moved to step over the mess on the floor and join Cloud so he could see the instructions. "Usually the best kind. Does it look difficult?"
"Not really. There's a lot of pieces, but they're all here." Cloud had shoved the mattress, cushions and slipcover off to the side and out of the way. They'd worry about that after they got it built.
"All right. Tell me what to do, then." Leon moved again to eye all the pieces and get a feel for which was which.
Cloud began pointing out which pieces connected to which and in what order. "And we'll need a hammer. It has the rest of the tools that we'll need. I didn't know where you kept your tools."
Leon nodded and stood to fetch one; he'd somehow managed to accumulate plenty while working on the town repairs. "Got it. What first?"
Cloud pointed out the bigger pieces that would connect together to make the frame, moving to get them set up. "I'll hold while you screw?" Cloud still wasn't very good at recognizing innuendo and still managed to say things without considering their connotations.
Leon, however, wasn't much better when it was actually directed at him, and nodded as he moved to get into place. "Hold it steady," he instructed as he went to work.
Cloud nodded and held the frame work steady. He hadn't ever put a couch together before, but it didn't seem too difficult. And when they actually tried, they could work together without too much snark, as he'd learned before when they had faced all those heartless together.
Leon was too focused on their task to think about much else, and nodded when he was finished to let Cloud know he was ready to move on to the next piece, willing to take his cues from the blond because he held the instructions. "Does it look right so far?"
"Yeah, it looks right," Cloud said. He pointed out two other pieces. "Hand those to me?"
Leon leaned over to grab them off the floor and hand them over. "Good. What next? These?"
Nodding Cloud put the pieces in place then waited for Leon to secure them with the hardware.
Leon did so, and looked to Cloud for further instructions.
Cloud gave the next bit of instructions and they continued on like this until the couch was completely together except for the mattress, cushions and slipcover.
Leon took a moment to stand back and look at it, actually rather proud that they'd managed to put together a solid piece of furniture on their first try. "It looks good."
"It'll look better once we can actually sit on it." Cloud pointed to the corner where the final pieces were.
"Right." Leon grabbed some cushions and fit them on the couch, then stood back to look at it again. He nodded. "Looks better."
"Yeah." Cloud didn't bother to stand there and admire their handiwork, he instead turned around and claimed one side of the couch settling comfortably into the corner. "Feels better, too."
Curious, Leon claimed the other end, and raised his eyebrows in agreement, though he refused to admit his defeat aloud. "It's all right."
Cloud stretched out, sinking into the soft cushions. Hearing Leon say that it was all right equated to Leon saying 'You're right, I was wrong.' At least in Cloud's mind it did. There was no way Leon couldn't love this couch compared to the old one.
Leon sighed as he let himself sink down as well. This one really was better than his old one. He was glad he'd let Cloud con him into getting it.
Cloud was about to fall asleep, he was so comfortable when his stomach rumbled. He looked around for a clock, wondering what time it was.
Leon nodded at the VCR, which was what he used as a clock in here. "Want to get some food?" He was hungry himself, after hauling all that stuff around.
Cloud glanced over at the VCR. It was almost seven o'clock. It didn't seem like they'd been gone that long, or that it had taken very long to put the couch together. But somehow, the time had passed. "Yeah," he said, nodding.
Leon shoved himself to his feet with a grunt, returning a few moments later to drop the phone and a phone book on the table before collapsing onto the couch again. "What do you want to order? I'm not cooking a dinner."
Flipping through the phone book, Cloud searched for something that sounded good. Though to be honest, everything sounded good as hungry as he was. He quickly ruled out pizza, as he'd likely wind up having plenty of it at Matt's. "Anything but pizza sounds good to me," Cloud said.
"Chinese, then," Leon suggested, watching Cloud through lazy eyes. "I don't really care."
"What do you want?" Cloud asked, looking over the menu for one of the restaurants. He didn't know why he always bothered to look at the menu, they were always the same.
Leon leaned forward to briefly peruse the menu as well. He pointed out some type of Chinese chicken thing. "That's fine. What are you having?"
Instead of directly answering Leon, he called the number and placed their order for delivery, pausing to ask Leon for the address and phone number. He then ordered what Leon had pointed out as well as some lo mein noodles, wonton soup, dumplings, and sesame chicken. It was a lot of food, but he was sure Leon would appreciate the leftovers, and chinese food just wasn't the same unless you had a little of everything.
Leon, who had always been more practical about his food orders, raised an eyebrow as he listened to Cloud, but otherwise said nothing until he hung up. "Hyne. Hungry?"
"What? You can't just get one thing when you order chinese." Cloud's cheeks went slightly pink with embarrassment. "Besides, they make for good leftovers."
Leon shrugged. "I usually order what I want to eat. But whatever. It'll get eaten. Why are you blushing?"
Cloud straightened in his seat. "I'm not." His answer sounded more like a question than a statement, and Leon drawing attention to it only made him more embarrassed.
Leon pointed. "Yes you are. You're bright pink. It clashes with the yellow."
Cloud scowled and tossed the phone book at Leon.
Leon actually smirked as he caught it and dumped the heavy thing back on the table again. "Clever comeback, Strife. You really have a way with words."
"Shut up," Cloud said, crossing his arms. He hoped the food would get there quickly.
"I guess I'm just no match for you," Leon drawled, settling back comfortably on the couch again. The blond was so easy to tease that he hardly noticed himself doing it.
"Whatever," Cloud said with an exasperated sigh. He didn't feel like arguing right now. If he did his comebacks would obviously be a lot better. Obviously.
Leon snorted. It still vaguely annoyed him that Cloud said that so often, after hearing Seifer make fun of him for it all the time--like the blond was making fun of him too--but he knew Cloud wasn't, so he didn't pick an argument over it. "
They sat in silence for about ten minutes before Cloud spoke up. "Can we watch something?" He gestured toward the television. He wasn't sure what movies Leon had, but he had to have some if he had a VCR - though probably not anything recent, who buys VHS these days?
It was a DOUBLE VHS/DVD player, though Leon didn't think to point that out as he got up to grab the remote and toss it somewhat gently at Cloud before sitting again. "If you can find something, sure. Chinese shouldn't take much longer."
Turning on the television, Cloud began flipping through the channels, trying to find something worth watching. Of course, nothing was on except for the news and game shows and Cloud didn't particularly want to watch either of those. He eventually found some western/kung-fu movie starring Jackie Chan and some doofy looking blond with a crooked nose and settled for that. At least it was an action movie.
Leon said nothing about his choice, simply accepted it until the doorbell rang for their food. He got up and paid the man before depositing the bags on the table and heading into the kitchen for something to drink. "Water okay?" he called back at Cloud.
"Yeah," Cloud replied, a bit absorbed in the movie, mostly because he started watching in the middle of it and was trying to figure out the plot - or if there even was a plot.
Leon got them both some, as well as some plates and utensils, in case Cloud couldn't use chopsticks. He nudged some of the Chinese aside to make room and settled back on the couch again. "What is this movie?"
"No clue. Haven't seen it before. But apparently they're trying to rescue this girl from marrying some guy. I think that's the plot." Cloud reached for one of the containers of soup and worked on eating that first as he continued to watch the movie.
"Huh." Leon didn't watch much television. His eyes stayed almost glued to the screen as he started heaping his plate with food. It looked goofy, but all right--kind of reminded him of something Zell might enjoy.
Once Cloud finished his soup, he dished up a plate full of the food and began eating it with chopsticks. The movie was amusing and it made him think of something Matt would enjoy - and with all the movies Matt had watched, it was entirely possible he'd already seen it.
"This is so stupid," Leon murmured around an egg roll, unaware that he couldn't actually tear his eyes away. "Why are we watching this."
"Because nothing else was on," Cloud replied, his mouth full of dumpling. He was also staring at the screen, unable to look away. If he had been able to, he'd have made fun of Leon for being so entranced by it.
"There's got to be something else one," Leon muttered, but he didn't so much as look away for the remote. "This isn't even funny." Only it kind of was.
"There's always the news," Cloud suggested right before slurping up some noodles. He didn't reach for the remote either.
"I don't want to watch the news," Leon replied, reaching for some more rice. "I guess this is better than that."
"Neither do I." Cloud finished what was on his plate, and even though he was no longer hungry, he also wasn't full and the food was really good and a little more wouldn't be too bad. A little more translated into another plateful.
It was the same with Leon, who filled his plate with all the foods he hadn't tried the last time.
By time the movie was over and Cloud had set down his plate, there wasn't much left to be put away for leftovers. And he didn't particularly feel like moving, he was so full. "I think I ate too much."
"You look like you ate too much," Leon told him. He settled back on the couch with one of the two fortune cookies and tossed the other at the blond. He was full too. "You ordered too much."
Cloud was busy loosening his belt, glad for the little bit of extra room wearing Leon's pants gave him, when the fortune cookie bounced off his arm. "Hey, watch it." He reached over and grabbed the cookie and settled back comfortably against the couch and opened his up. "Somebody would do anything for you," he read. "Lucky numbers, 3, 4, 9, 10, 43, 45." He flipped the fortune over to see if there was anything on the back, as some had a word or phrase you could learn in chinese. "The food is good. Hen-hao chi."
"Your object of desire comes closer," Leon read from his with a frown. "Lucky numbers, 19, 30, 29, 50, 38, and 23. Pronunciation, Fa-yin. Huh." He stared at it for another moment before tossing it back on the table again, turning his attention to the cookie itself. "I usually don't actually bother with these."
"With reading or eating them?" Cloud asked, already munching on his despite not having the room for it.
"Both," Leon said with a shrug. He popped one half in his mouth. "They don't taste that good."
"I don't think they're supposed to." Cloud tossed his fortune to the table, not wanting to move to actually set it down. "Have you ever had chines food with Yuffie?"
Leon frowned, confused by the question. "Once, when we were working on something. Why?"
"Did you guys read your fortune cookies out loud?" Cloud asked.
"No," Leon told him. "I didn't eat mine."
"Oh. Last time I had chinese around her it was the two of us, Tifa, Cid, Vincent, and Barrett. And she made us all add "in bed," to the end of our fortunes." Cloud wasn't sure why he had brought this up in the first place, other than that it was something to talk about.
Leon thought about that for a moment, and blushed just a little bit when he realized what it made both their fortunes. "Sounds like something Irvine would do," he grumbled, wondering why the hell Cloud had said that.
Cloud smirked. "You're blushing." The fortunes with 'in bed' tacked onto the end weren't that bad. And his was a lot more risque than Leon's. Or he thought, not quite getting the full implications of the word come.
"Shut up," Leon told him. He threw his wrapper at Cloud's head.
"Clever," Cloud replied. He knew he was echoing Leon's words from earlier, but instead of making him feel unoriginal, it made him feel more smug because he'd just got even.
Leon scowled. "You're the one who said that first. So shut up." He was really too sated and too tired to come up with a better argument right now.
"You're a hypocrite," he said, a slight smile playing at his lips. He settled back further into the couch, finding the cushions to be warm and inviting unlike the scratchy ones on the old couch. He yawned and glanced at the television which was still on. Some new movie was starting, but he wasn't sure he really cared what it was.
"How," Leon wanted to know. He sank deeper as well. The stupid blond was right; this couch was much nicer than his old one.
"You made fun of me earlier for the same things you turned around and said." Cloud yawned again. He really did eat too much if it was making him this sleepy.
"And you said the same things I did," Leon pointed out. "Very unoriginal." Watching Cloud yawn made him yawn too.
"Yeah, but I kne-" he yawned yet again, "knew that I was. I was doing it to make fun of y-you." Cloud barely managed to suppress that last yawn.
Leon frowned, then yawned, then frowned some more, this time adding a glare. "Stop yawning. You're making me do it."
"Sorry," Cloud didn't actually sound apologetic. He couldn't help that he was yawning, after all. "Do you have any coffee?"
"I'd have to make some," Leon replied, "and I don't really want to, do you?"
"That requires moving." It wouldn't hurt to rest his eyes for a moment. It wasn't like his cell phone had beeped to say it was charged and when it did, he could get up, call Matt, then shower and change while he waited for him to get there. Cloud yawned again and let his eyes drift closed.
"Are you napping?" Leon asked, though he was hardly in a state to condemn it himself. He sank more comfortably into the new cushions. He supposed they were comfortable enough for it.
"No, just resting my eyes for a minute," Cloud replied.
"Fine," Leon grumbled, and didn't bother informing the blond that he was doing the same.
It didn't take long for Cloud to fall into what pretty much qualified as a food coma, and he was fast asleep and stretched out across the couch. It really had been smart to get a couch like this - not that he expected he'd ever be sitting or sleeping on this couch again after tonight.
It took Leon a little longer, but not much, and soon he was in much the same state, though he was still loathe to admit that Cloud's idea had been a good one.
About an hour later, Cloud stretched his legs out, ignoring that they were rubbing up against something that wasn't cushion, and rolled onto his side, exposing the cell phone that was still attached to his belt and not plugged into the wall. He murmured something unintelligible and fell right back asleep.
Leon was awoken by something rudely rubbing against his feet and shins, and kicked back somewhat blearily. He hadn't been aware he'd fallen asleep until he was Cloud lying on the other end of his new couch. Now he kicked with the intent of waking the other man up. "Hey," he said gruffly, voice still thick with sleep. "Wake up. Weren't you going to call Matt?"
"Phone's on the charger. Hasn't beeped yet," Cloud mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes despite Leon's kicking.
Leon grunted and was about to close his eyes again when they caught on a flash of silver from his belt. He kicked Cloud again. "What's that on your belt, then?"
"Stop that," Cloud grumbled. "What's what?" He reached down and felt around on his belt. "Oh. Shit. I thought I plugged that in." No wonder it hadn't beeped.
Leon narrowed his eyes at the blond. "It was on your belt the whole time?"
"Guess so," Cloud said, shifting to sit up. He glanced over at the wall where the charger was plugged in and connected to... nothing.
Leon rolled his eyes. "Nice, Strife. What time is it?" He pushed himself up into a half-sitting position, running a hand through his hair. When he realized their feet had been tangled he blushed just slightly and pulled his away.
"Ten-thirty," Cloud said, glancing over at the VCR. By the time the phone charged enough for him to call Matt, assuming he moved off the couch right now, it would be quarter to eleven. And then at least a couple of hours if not longer for Matt to get here. Which would mean he wouldn't be getting to Matt's until some ridiculous hour in the morning.
"Too late to call, then," Leon murmured. He swiped a hand through his hair again, thinking. "Guess you'll have to do it in the morning."
Cloud nodded and was about to let himself just flop back over to sleep. "Guess so," he said, managing to stay mostly upright. His stomach was still unbearably full. "Maybe I should call him now so that he can leave in the morning."
"You'd have to charge your phone first," Leon pointed out.
"It doesn't take that long to charge." Something Cloud should have realized sooner when he hadn't heard the beep.
"Then why didn't you think to call sooner?" Leon wanted to know. It wasn't that he was annoyed that Cloud would be staying another night, just dumbfounded as to how exactly it had happened.
"I forgot about it." It was mostly true. Granted he'd remembered a few times, and hadn't bothered to check on his phone, but Leon didn't need to know that.
"Nice," Leon repeated. He stretched a little and sighed. "We should move to the bed."
Cloud raised his eyebrow at the 'we'. "there's a couch with a pull out bed right here that I can sleep on. Cloud said. Granted pulling out the bed required cleaning up the dinner mess, finding sheets and extra pillows and blankets to make the bed up with and it was really a lot of work when he just wanted to roll over and sleep. He got up off the couch to plug in his phone, setting it on a nearby surface.
Leon shrugged. "Then sleep out here. I don't care. You'll have to make the bed, though." He stood up and made for the hall closet, where he kept the extra bedding.
Cloud frowned and walked past Leon, heading for the bedroom. As comfortable as the couch was, he didn't want to sleep all night on it as a couch and he'd already decided making the bed wasn't worth it tonight.
Leon watched him walk past with a frown. "I'll take that as a nevermind?" He closed the closet door and followed him into the bedroom.
"Yeah," Cloud stripped down to the t-shirt and boxers, leaving the clothes in a heap on the floor before climbing into the same side of the bed he slept in the night before.
Leon did the same, though he flipped out the light before he climbed in. Some part of him felt a little uncomfortable sleeping next to the blond man, but he knew it was stupid, so he ignored it.
"Good night," Cloud murmured before curling up tightly under the blankets and falling asleep.
"Mmm," Leon grunted in reply. He made himself comfortable and let himself fall asleep again as well.
What: Cloud needs a cell phone charger and a few other things.
When: New Year's Day
Where: Leon's house in Radiant Garden, IKEA, random shops
Why: Because shopping is fun.
Also: The couch purchased in this log is this one in Idemo Dark Blue. Follow up to this log. We'll hopefully finish the other log tonight. :D
Leon sighed as he pushed himself up from the table to dump his dirty dishes in the sink. He'd get to them later, when he was more awake and less well-fed. He turned to reach for Cloud's. "Are you finished?"
Cloud took one last bite before pushing the plate towards Leon. "Yeah. I didn't know you could cook."
"Self-taught," Leon told him, and picked up the dish to add with his own. "I need to eat, don't I."
"Tifa cooks for me when I'm there. Otherwise it's restaurants or things that don't need cooking." Cloud was capable of cooking enough to be able to feed himself if need be, it just didn't taste very good when he did.
"Yeah, well, no one here to cook for me anymore, and there are no restaurants around." Leon sat at the table again just to have somewhere to sit, tugging his cup of coffee closer to nurse.
Cloud shrugged, he had been attempting to give a compliment, but it didn't seem he was very good at giving them - or Leon was just really bad at getting when something was meant as one. "I should probably call Matt so he's not getting here late tonight." He reached for his cellphone and and was getting ready to go to the phone directory in it when the screen flickered with 'low battery' and died. He stared at the phone. Well, that just figures. "Do you have a charger that will work with this?"
Leon leaned over the table to squint at it a moment before leaning back again. "No. I don't even recognize that kind. Is the battery dead?"
"It just died." Cloud frowned and put it away. He didn't know Matt's number off by heart, he didn't know any numbers off by heart. There was no reason to memorize them when you had a cell phone... except for when things like this happen.
Leon shrugged and nodded at his kitchen phone. "Just use that one, then."
"I don't know his number," Cloud said. "If I did I would have asked if I could use yours instead of asking for a charger."
Leon frowned. "You don't know any of it?"
"No. I don't normally go anywhere without my charger." Except for when I'm running after Kadaj in the middle of the night trying to stop him from... Cloud cut off the train of thought before it could make him feel any worse than he already was. "Is there anywhere nearby where I can get a charger?"
Leon raised an eyebrow. "In Radiant Garden?" Had the man forgotten how small the town was already? "No. But we can borrow a Gummi if you need to go elsewhere."
"Is there somewhere closer than going all the way back to my world to get a charger?" Cloud sighed.
"I'm sure there are other worlds," Leon thought allowed, frowning again. "Do you want to go look?"
"Yes," Cloud tapped his fingers on the cell phone case attached to his belt. Matt was going to think something happened. And knowing Matt, it was going to be the wrong something.
"I want to shower first," Leon told him. He tipped his head back to drain the rest of his coffee quickly. "Then we can go wherever you want."
"Okay." Cloud got up and headed to the living room to sit on the couch, he had been exaggerating slightly last night when he'd said the kitchen chairs were more comfortable than the couch. But not by much. He'd already taken a shower while Leon was fixing lunch.
Leon got up and locked himself in the bathroom for a while, finally coming out with a towel wrapped around his waist before locking himself in his bedroom to get dressed. When he emerged a few minutes later he was wearing his usual white shirt and leather pants, sans-belts as he worked quickly at towel-drying his hair. "Are you wearing your clothes from yesterday?"
While Leon had been in the shower, Cloud had shifted one hundred and forty-six times on the couch. That he'd counted at least. No couch should be so scratchy and uncomfortable as this one. He decided if they happened to see any furniture stores while looking for a charger, he was getting Leon a new couch. It was the least he could after putting him through all this trouble.
Leon returned and Cloud stopped counting. It took a moment for him to process the question before he nodded. "I didn't bring any others with me."
"Do you want to borrow some?"
It was one thing to borrow a t-shirt for bed, but to walk around all day in Leon's clothes. In public no less. However, the down side was wearing clothes that weren't clean and probably a lot worse smelling than he realized. "I don't know, do you have anything other than a bunch of those jackets like you always wear?"
Leon raised an eyebrow in challenge, daring Cloud to say something insulting about his jacket. "Go look."
Cloud wasn't stupid. He'd save the jacket insults for over the internet. Where he'd be physically far, far away from Leon. He stood up and headed towards Leon's bedroom and began rummaging through his dresser, trying to find something that wouldn't look ridiculous. He finally settled on a a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. They didn't fit as well as his own jeans, but with the belt they weren't too bad. After a few moments to adjust to the fit, Cloud headed back to the living room.
Leon looked up at him from where he'd been pulling on his shoes on the couch, towel draped around his neck. He eyed the man for a moment before returning to his task. "Looks like it fits, at least."
"You got some laundry that I can toss my dirty clothes in with?" Cloud wanted to be able to return to his own clothes as soon as possible after they got back.
There was a small laundry room right next to the bathroom. Leon nodded at it. "In there."
Cloud quickly got a load started in the washer then joined Leon in the living room yet again. "Ready?" Cloud wasn't trying to rush, but he was more than a little eager to get back with the cell phone charger.
"Just about." Leon stood and tossed his towel in the bathroom, then went back to his bedroom to put his belts on and his jacket, just to be purposely obtuse. He returned a few minutes later. "Now I'm good."
Cloud rolled his eyes at the jacket but kept his mouth shut about it. "If you say so."
Leon resisted the urge to roll his eyes and led Cloud to the door. "Let's go, then."
With a nod, Cloud followed him out the door and they made the ten minute walk back to Cid's garage.
Cid wasn't around again, which didn't surprise Leon, since it was New Year's day. So he simply grabbed the keys off the wall and opened the door for the two of them to climb in. He turned again to Cloud after starting the engine. "Where to first?"
"Somewhere that sells cell phones and accessories." Cloud settled into the passenger seat, hoping that this drive would be less awkward than the last one they'd taken together.
This time Leon did roll his eyes. "I meant what world, because I don't know of any that sell that kind of thing. Would yours?"
"Yeah, mine does, but if we're going all the way there I can just get the one I already have." Cloud sighed, while returning home to get his things wouldn't be so bad, his things were in the church and he wasn't ready to return there.
"Then we'll just wander a little until we find somewhere closer," Leon muttered, distracted as he leaned over the front panel and began scanning the coordinates already programmed in there. He chose a promising-looking one and concentrated on getting the Gummi up in the sky.
"Whatever," Cloud crossed his arms and looked straight ahead. Hopefully this wandering wasn't going to take longer than it would for them to have just gone back to his world.
Leon sighed as he settled back in his seat for the trip. Then something occurred to him. "Do you have money?"
"Right here," Cloud said, pulling his wallet out of the borrowed jeans. That, like his cell phone, was always on him.
"All right. Just checking." Hopefully this first world would have what they needed.
"I'm not a mooch," Cloud replied.
Leon glanced at him. "That's not what I was implying. I just wanted to check."
"I wouldn't ask you to take me to the store if I didn't have money." Cloud let out an irritated sigh.
Leon glanced at him again. "You're very irritable today."
"Sorry I'm not a ray of sunshine the day after my..." Cloud couldn't finish his sentence. Instead he bit down on his lip and looked away, crossing his arms tighter.
Leon sighed. He been half-hoping Cloud had managed not to think about that today. No such luck. "I wasn't trying to insult you."
"Whatever," Cloud didn't care if he was trying to or not, the fact remained that he did.
Leon narrowed his eyes at Cloud. "I wasn't. I was making sure you hadn't forgotten it, that's all."
"I didn't forget it." He let out a sigh and sank back further into his seat.
"That's all I wanted to know," Leon said again, frowning. "Do you have some sort of complex about people thinking you're a mooch?"
"No, would you stop asking pointless questions?" Cloud shifted in his seat and wondered how close they were to this world they were going to.
"Only if you'll stop taking them the wrong way," Leon replied irritably. There was a planet barely visible in the distance, and he steered the Gummi towards it.
Cloud glared and silently watched as they drove toward the planet. Hopefully it would be somewhere useful.
Leon tried to get rid of his annoyance during the drive. The planet looked promising enough, and he steered them toward a decent looking city before setting down and cutting the engine.
As they landed, Cloud looked around spotting several cell phone shops, even more clothing stores and an Ikea down the road. It looked like they actually found somewhere decent.
Leon glanced at Cloud as he climbed out of the vehicle. "Good enough?"
"Yeah," Cloud sounded slightly less irritable now that he had the opportunity to get the cell phone charger, some clothes that weren't Leon's and maybe even get Leon a better couch.
Leon nodded and started off to the nearest cell phone shop. "Good."
Cloud followed in the same direction. The shop was small, but they happened to have exactly what he was looking for - for twice what it should have cost. He could have just gone onto the next store, but he didn't feel like wasting time shopping around and with all the deliveries he had do to the holidays, he had more than enough to worry about such a small over pricing as there was on the charger.
Leon eyed the charger. He recognized the overpricing, but it didn't look like Cloud minded, so he decided not to say anything. "Is that all you wanted?"
"From here," Cloud said. "Since we're here I figured I'd get a few other things until I'm ready to go home."
Leon was mildly surprised, but it wasn't like he'd had anything planned, so he didn't mind all that much. "What else?"
"Clothes. I'd rather not keep borrowing." Cloud finished paying then left the store with his purchase. There were several clothing stores as they walked down the street, almost all of them specializing in women's fashion. There had to be a men's store around here somewhere.
"Don't you have clothes in your house?" Leon asked with a frown, following now because he wasn't sure where Cloud was headed. "How long are you planning to stay out?"
"I'm just going to get a couple of shirts and another pair of jeans. I don't know how long I'll be staying with Matt." Cloud finally spotted a men's clothing store and headed in. He didn't plan to take very long, it wasn't like he was looking for anything in particular.
Leon looked around himself in vague interest. He didn't go clothes shopping very often. "This Matt must be pretty close, for you to invite yourself over for so long."
"I stayed over for several days before just to visit," Cloud replied, grabbing a pair of jeans in his size, a sweater and a couple of dark blue t-shirts.
"Really." Leon poked at a rack of clothes curiously. "Sounds nice."
Cloud took the clothes he'd selected up to the register to pay. "It is." If Leon expected details, he wasn't getting them.
Leon figured that out from Cloud's dismissive tone, and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets as he waited.
The shopkeeper handed Cloud the bag with his clothes and he tossed his new cell phone charger in with them. As they exited the store, Cloud turned to Leon. "There's one more place I want to go, but we should move the Gummi closer."
Leon frowned, confused. "Where? And what for?"
Cloud pointed to the Ikea. "We're replacing that scratchy couch of yours."
"What?" Leon looked at Cloud in surprise. "Since when do you have money for a couch?"
"The holiday season just ended. There's huge sales and I did a lot of business." Looking away, Cloud quietly added, "And you've gone out of your way to help me."
"That doesn't mean you owe me a couch." Leon crossed his arms. "It wasn't that big of a deal, you don't owe me anything."
"You're getting a new couch. The one you have is awful." Cloud's mind had been made up since before they left the house. He wasn't about to change it now.
"Well if you're not going to be staying on it, I don't see what the big deal it," Leon told him irritably.
"No one should have to even sit on it, Leon." Cloud glared at him. He wasn't taking no for an answer.
"I don't need you to buy me a couch." Leon glared back. "I can buy it myself."
"I'm buying you a couch whether you like it or not. But if we go now you can at least have a say in what it looks like." Cloud walked over to the Gummi.
Leon glared as he stomped over as well. "Why?"
"Because in the time you were in the shower I shifted on that thing a hundred and forty-six times trying to get comfortable." Cloud replied.
Leon snorted. "Don't exaggerate. It's not that bad."
"I'm not. I counted." Cloud crossed his arms.
Leon glared as he opened up the Gummi for them. "You're impossible."
Cloud stepped in and set his bag on the ground. "So?"
"So I can't believe I'm doing this," Leon muttered, turning the engine. He moved the Gummi closer and then glared at Cloud. "Happy?"
"No, but I'm appeased." Cloud looked smug, which was the only expression he'd made since the events of last night that wasn't sour or sad.
Mumbling something unintelligible, Leon slammed his door shut and made his way to the store. This was so stupid he couldn't even find words for it. And embarrassing to boot.
Cloud had never been in an Ikea before, but he'd heard about them. They were supposed to have anything and everything you could need for a house. Of course, stepping into the store made him realize that a store that has this much must be huge. But there were maps and it shouldn't be too hard to find the couches and then get out of there.
Leon felt distinctly out of place as soon as they stepped inside. This was the kind of place he would have gone to with Rinoa, not Cloud, and he didn't even think he needed a new couch, so he thought the entire thing was ridiculous. So he scowled.
Cloud headed up the stairs and found a maze of furniture in front of them. "Um..." He looked back down at the map and said "There's a couple of shortcuts we can take to get to the living room stuff faster..."
Leon had never been in a home furnishing store like this before, and he was practically lost already. He peered down at the map from over Cloud's shoulder. "Are you sure we won't get lost if we don't take the normal path?"
"We just have to follow the map," Cloud said. He pointed to the two shortcuts. "It should be easy enough."
Leon shrugged. "If you say so."
After half an hour of wandering and dealing with Leon's scowling, Cloud sighed. They were lost. "Er..."
Leon raised an eyebrow at him, arms crossed.
"Sorry. I've never been in a place like this before." Cloud spotted an employee (finally they were so scarce) and she directed them to where the living room furniture was.
Leon sighed as they finally arrived at the living room section. There had to be a hundred different couches there. He looked at Cloud again. "You realize this is ridiculous, right."
"I didn't know they had so much of everything," Cloud replied. "But we didn't go through all of that to leave here without a couch."
Leon rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. The man had a point, however small it was. But still. "Do you have any idea what kind to get?"
"The kind that pulls out into a bed," Cloud said. "That way if anyone ever unexpectedly stays the night again you don't have to give up your bed, or share."
"Are you trying to tell me you'll be back?" Leon asked, eyebrow raised.
Cloud rolled his eyes. "No, but you know other people."
"You're the only one who's stayed the night."
"Whatever."
Leon sighed. "Well let's get this over with, then." He stepped forward to begin perusing the maze of couches.
Cloud noticed a lot of ugly couches, a lot of cheap couches, and a few nice ones. He also noticed a couple fawning over one of the ugliest couches in the place. Cloud then spotted the perfect couch. Well, he thought it was perfect. Leon didn't have much in his living room and this couch would do something to fill the empty space. "Hey, what about this one?"
Leon glanced at it. And frowned. "It's big."
"Yeah, and you have a lot of empty space." Cloud then noticed the slipcover samples and pointed them out. "Look, they even have it in a shade to match your jacket."
Leon rolled his eyes. "I don't where my jacket inside. But whatever, it's fine. I'm paying for at least half." It felt weird for Cloud to buy him something as domestic as a couch. They hardly even knew one another.
"Fine," Cloud said with a shrug. Half a couch was still enough to make up for everything. Especially when he saw the price tag. He jotted down the bin numbers that the display listed and began walking towards what was hopefully the exit.
Leon followed unquestioningly, still unsure why he was letting the blond do this, and unsure why he was playing along.
They followed the furniture maze to a set of escalators that led downstairs to a ton of shopping carts, flatbed carts (which he grabbed one of) and another maze of stuff, this time not just for display. It was all things they'd passed upstairs (and then some). Cloud scratched his head, wondering where the 'bins' were that the couches were in.
"Maybe we should find an employee," Leon suggested, noticing how confused Cloud looked.
"No, we'll find it." He'd already embarrassed himself and asked for directions once, he wasn't going to do it again. He kept walking through the store, eventually finding huge aisles filled with boxes, each section of the aisle marked with a letter and a number.
Leon reached over and took the slip of paper Cloud had written the information on, peering at it with a frown. After a moment he handed it back. "I can't read your handwriting. What are we looking for."
"My handwriting is perfectly legible." Cloud then read off the five bin numbers that contained the parts of the couch.
Leon snorted, but didn't press it. After hearing the numbers he began scanning the aisles for the right one. Eventually he nodded back at Cloud. "This one."
Cloud pushed the cart over to the bin and lifted the heavy box off the shelf and onto the cart. "Next one?"
Leon was already working on it, and set it down on the cart with a grunt. "We have to assemble it?"
"No, it'll assemble itself as soon as we take it out of the box," Cloud replied, rolling his eyes. The final three bins were the slipcover, the mattress and the cushions and then they were headed for the checkout.
"That would explain the price," Leon grumbled, but otherwise didn't complain as they split the cost between them and worked on lugging the thing outside to the Gummi.
"The price wasn't that bad." He'd seen Tifa eying a couch in some catalog that cost a little more than twice as much as this one. Once everything was loaded into the Gummi, Cloud hopped into the passenger seat.
Leon climbed into the driver's side and paused to look at Cloud after turning the engine. "Anywhere else?"
"No, that's it."
"All right." Leon started for the sky, eager to get home now that he'd spent money. He hadn't even been planning to buy anything. And what the hell was he going to do with the old couch?
Cloud realized as they were heading back that since he'd pretty much forced Leon into getting the new couch he'd at least have to help him put it together. It would be rude not to.
Leon was, in fact, expecting Cloud to help with the couch, and so didn't actually mention it during the trip, instead focusing his attention on where he was going to land so that they wouldn't have to haul said couch all the way across town.
Cloud began tapping his fingers on his leg, mostly bored due to the fact that the Ikea trip had managed to make him stop thinking about Kadaj. Of course, were he to be aware of this, he'd likely only start thinking about it again.
Leon glanced at him. "In a hurry to go to Matt's?" He really had no tact at all.
"What?" Cloud asked. He had managed to zone out in that brief amount of time. "Why do you ask that?" But now that Leon mentioned it, he did want to see Matt and thinking about that reminded him why - his fingers stilled.
"You seem impatient," Leon told him, frowning. "Relax."
"I was relaxed." Cloud shifted in his seat. "I hadn't thought about it all afternoon until just now." He gave Leon a pointed look.
Leon glanced at him, then sighed. "Sorry."
"Whatever," Cloud said with a sigh and looked away.
Leon looked at him again. "I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known."
"Now you know," Cloud said. He still wasn't looking at Leon.
Leon rolled his eyes. He knew it was his fault the blond was in such a foul mood, but it was still annoying, especially when he was actually trying to be nice. "Whatever."
Cloud didn't say anything, just sat there. Hopefully putting together the couch would take his mind of of it long enough for his phone to charge so he could call Matt and get out of there. Maybe if he were at Leon's under any other circumstances it wouldn't be so bad, but then, he couldn't think of any other circumstances he'd actually be there under and frowned.
Leon didn't say anything else either, though his irritation slowly dissipated as he concentrated on driving.
Cloud tried to push the memories out of his mind, tried to block out the scenes replaying in his head. Matt would be able to talk him out of anything. Not in the convincing kind of way, but in the won't shut up and happens to distract you by talking about everything and nothing kind of way.
Leon slowed the Gummi down as they approached Radiant Garden again, and managed to land it in the street relatively close to his front door in order to get the couch out. He flipped off the engine and climbed out to get the box from the back.
Cloud grabbed his bag before heading to the back to grab one of the other boxes. Maybe, if he was lucky, once they had everything inside, Leon would let him stay here while he returned the Gummi.
Leon struggled to lift one of the heavier boxes and then moved to actually get it inside his house. He hoped, halfway there, that it would actually fit through the door. He hadn't thought of that before.
Cloud waited patiently as he could behind Leon, waiting for the other man to get inside the house so he could set the box down.
It took a moment to get the door open, but when he did Leon shuffled his way inside and dumped the box just inside the door, quickly shoving it aside far enough for Cloud to set his box down as well.
Setting the box down, Cloud moved out of the way to find somewhere to put his bag so it wouldn't get crushed or lost. He then headed back outside to grab two of the three remaining boxes.
Leon followed him to grab the last, and set it down with a tired sigh before pausing to look around himself, then at the Gummi sitting in the middle of the street outside. "I'd better return that," he told Cloud. "I'll be back in a minute."
"You should take the old couch with you. I'm sure Cid'll find use for it," Cloud said, relieved that Leon wasn't going to make him take a pointless 10 minute walk back from the garage.
Leon nodded. That was a good idea. "Help me get it out there, then." He moved to lift one end.
Cloud nodded and moved to the old scratchy couch. He lifted one end and waited for Leon to grab the other before walking backwards toward the door.
Leon followed, careful not to ram a corner into any walls. He'd left the Gummi open, so he helped heft it inside before closing it again and digging out his keys. "I'll be right back."
"Okay." Cloud waited until Leon had the Gummi started before heading back into the house. He grabbed the cell phone charger out of the bag, found an outlet and plugged it in. Once that was set he debated changing into the clothes he bought when he remembered that the ones he was wearing last night were in the wash. He changed over the load then headed back to the living room. Changing clothes seemed silly to do right now. He could do that after putting the couch together while waiting for Matt to arrive.
It took a bit longer than expected to actually find Cid and let the man know why there was a scratchy old couch in his Gummi, but Leon managed, and arrived back home about half an hour later than scheduled.
When Leon hadn't returned within ten minutes, Cloud got restless and began opening the boxes, getting things set out so that they could put it together as soon as Leon got back.
Leon was mildly surprised to see this as he stepped inside the door, and closed it behind him with a curious glance at Cloud. "All set up already?"
"Yeah," Cloud replied. He held up the directions. "Should be easy enough to put together, the instructions are all in illustrations."
Leon snorted softly in amusement and moved to step over the mess on the floor and join Cloud so he could see the instructions. "Usually the best kind. Does it look difficult?"
"Not really. There's a lot of pieces, but they're all here." Cloud had shoved the mattress, cushions and slipcover off to the side and out of the way. They'd worry about that after they got it built.
"All right. Tell me what to do, then." Leon moved again to eye all the pieces and get a feel for which was which.
Cloud began pointing out which pieces connected to which and in what order. "And we'll need a hammer. It has the rest of the tools that we'll need. I didn't know where you kept your tools."
Leon nodded and stood to fetch one; he'd somehow managed to accumulate plenty while working on the town repairs. "Got it. What first?"
Cloud pointed out the bigger pieces that would connect together to make the frame, moving to get them set up. "I'll hold while you screw?" Cloud still wasn't very good at recognizing innuendo and still managed to say things without considering their connotations.
Leon, however, wasn't much better when it was actually directed at him, and nodded as he moved to get into place. "Hold it steady," he instructed as he went to work.
Cloud nodded and held the frame work steady. He hadn't ever put a couch together before, but it didn't seem too difficult. And when they actually tried, they could work together without too much snark, as he'd learned before when they had faced all those heartless together.
Leon was too focused on their task to think about much else, and nodded when he was finished to let Cloud know he was ready to move on to the next piece, willing to take his cues from the blond because he held the instructions. "Does it look right so far?"
"Yeah, it looks right," Cloud said. He pointed out two other pieces. "Hand those to me?"
Leon leaned over to grab them off the floor and hand them over. "Good. What next? These?"
Nodding Cloud put the pieces in place then waited for Leon to secure them with the hardware.
Leon did so, and looked to Cloud for further instructions.
Cloud gave the next bit of instructions and they continued on like this until the couch was completely together except for the mattress, cushions and slipcover.
Leon took a moment to stand back and look at it, actually rather proud that they'd managed to put together a solid piece of furniture on their first try. "It looks good."
"It'll look better once we can actually sit on it." Cloud pointed to the corner where the final pieces were.
"Right." Leon grabbed some cushions and fit them on the couch, then stood back to look at it again. He nodded. "Looks better."
"Yeah." Cloud didn't bother to stand there and admire their handiwork, he instead turned around and claimed one side of the couch settling comfortably into the corner. "Feels better, too."
Curious, Leon claimed the other end, and raised his eyebrows in agreement, though he refused to admit his defeat aloud. "It's all right."
Cloud stretched out, sinking into the soft cushions. Hearing Leon say that it was all right equated to Leon saying 'You're right, I was wrong.' At least in Cloud's mind it did. There was no way Leon couldn't love this couch compared to the old one.
Leon sighed as he let himself sink down as well. This one really was better than his old one. He was glad he'd let Cloud con him into getting it.
Cloud was about to fall asleep, he was so comfortable when his stomach rumbled. He looked around for a clock, wondering what time it was.
Leon nodded at the VCR, which was what he used as a clock in here. "Want to get some food?" He was hungry himself, after hauling all that stuff around.
Cloud glanced over at the VCR. It was almost seven o'clock. It didn't seem like they'd been gone that long, or that it had taken very long to put the couch together. But somehow, the time had passed. "Yeah," he said, nodding.
Leon shoved himself to his feet with a grunt, returning a few moments later to drop the phone and a phone book on the table before collapsing onto the couch again. "What do you want to order? I'm not cooking a dinner."
Flipping through the phone book, Cloud searched for something that sounded good. Though to be honest, everything sounded good as hungry as he was. He quickly ruled out pizza, as he'd likely wind up having plenty of it at Matt's. "Anything but pizza sounds good to me," Cloud said.
"Chinese, then," Leon suggested, watching Cloud through lazy eyes. "I don't really care."
"What do you want?" Cloud asked, looking over the menu for one of the restaurants. He didn't know why he always bothered to look at the menu, they were always the same.
Leon leaned forward to briefly peruse the menu as well. He pointed out some type of Chinese chicken thing. "That's fine. What are you having?"
Instead of directly answering Leon, he called the number and placed their order for delivery, pausing to ask Leon for the address and phone number. He then ordered what Leon had pointed out as well as some lo mein noodles, wonton soup, dumplings, and sesame chicken. It was a lot of food, but he was sure Leon would appreciate the leftovers, and chinese food just wasn't the same unless you had a little of everything.
Leon, who had always been more practical about his food orders, raised an eyebrow as he listened to Cloud, but otherwise said nothing until he hung up. "Hyne. Hungry?"
"What? You can't just get one thing when you order chinese." Cloud's cheeks went slightly pink with embarrassment. "Besides, they make for good leftovers."
Leon shrugged. "I usually order what I want to eat. But whatever. It'll get eaten. Why are you blushing?"
Cloud straightened in his seat. "I'm not." His answer sounded more like a question than a statement, and Leon drawing attention to it only made him more embarrassed.
Leon pointed. "Yes you are. You're bright pink. It clashes with the yellow."
Cloud scowled and tossed the phone book at Leon.
Leon actually smirked as he caught it and dumped the heavy thing back on the table again. "Clever comeback, Strife. You really have a way with words."
"Shut up," Cloud said, crossing his arms. He hoped the food would get there quickly.
"I guess I'm just no match for you," Leon drawled, settling back comfortably on the couch again. The blond was so easy to tease that he hardly noticed himself doing it.
"Whatever," Cloud said with an exasperated sigh. He didn't feel like arguing right now. If he did his comebacks would obviously be a lot better. Obviously.
Leon snorted. It still vaguely annoyed him that Cloud said that so often, after hearing Seifer make fun of him for it all the time--like the blond was making fun of him too--but he knew Cloud wasn't, so he didn't pick an argument over it. "
They sat in silence for about ten minutes before Cloud spoke up. "Can we watch something?" He gestured toward the television. He wasn't sure what movies Leon had, but he had to have some if he had a VCR - though probably not anything recent, who buys VHS these days?
It was a DOUBLE VHS/DVD player, though Leon didn't think to point that out as he got up to grab the remote and toss it somewhat gently at Cloud before sitting again. "If you can find something, sure. Chinese shouldn't take much longer."
Turning on the television, Cloud began flipping through the channels, trying to find something worth watching. Of course, nothing was on except for the news and game shows and Cloud didn't particularly want to watch either of those. He eventually found some western/kung-fu movie starring Jackie Chan and some doofy looking blond with a crooked nose and settled for that. At least it was an action movie.
Leon said nothing about his choice, simply accepted it until the doorbell rang for their food. He got up and paid the man before depositing the bags on the table and heading into the kitchen for something to drink. "Water okay?" he called back at Cloud.
"Yeah," Cloud replied, a bit absorbed in the movie, mostly because he started watching in the middle of it and was trying to figure out the plot - or if there even was a plot.
Leon got them both some, as well as some plates and utensils, in case Cloud couldn't use chopsticks. He nudged some of the Chinese aside to make room and settled back on the couch again. "What is this movie?"
"No clue. Haven't seen it before. But apparently they're trying to rescue this girl from marrying some guy. I think that's the plot." Cloud reached for one of the containers of soup and worked on eating that first as he continued to watch the movie.
"Huh." Leon didn't watch much television. His eyes stayed almost glued to the screen as he started heaping his plate with food. It looked goofy, but all right--kind of reminded him of something Zell might enjoy.
Once Cloud finished his soup, he dished up a plate full of the food and began eating it with chopsticks. The movie was amusing and it made him think of something Matt would enjoy - and with all the movies Matt had watched, it was entirely possible he'd already seen it.
"This is so stupid," Leon murmured around an egg roll, unaware that he couldn't actually tear his eyes away. "Why are we watching this."
"Because nothing else was on," Cloud replied, his mouth full of dumpling. He was also staring at the screen, unable to look away. If he had been able to, he'd have made fun of Leon for being so entranced by it.
"There's got to be something else one," Leon muttered, but he didn't so much as look away for the remote. "This isn't even funny." Only it kind of was.
"There's always the news," Cloud suggested right before slurping up some noodles. He didn't reach for the remote either.
"I don't want to watch the news," Leon replied, reaching for some more rice. "I guess this is better than that."
"Neither do I." Cloud finished what was on his plate, and even though he was no longer hungry, he also wasn't full and the food was really good and a little more wouldn't be too bad. A little more translated into another plateful.
It was the same with Leon, who filled his plate with all the foods he hadn't tried the last time.
By time the movie was over and Cloud had set down his plate, there wasn't much left to be put away for leftovers. And he didn't particularly feel like moving, he was so full. "I think I ate too much."
"You look like you ate too much," Leon told him. He settled back on the couch with one of the two fortune cookies and tossed the other at the blond. He was full too. "You ordered too much."
Cloud was busy loosening his belt, glad for the little bit of extra room wearing Leon's pants gave him, when the fortune cookie bounced off his arm. "Hey, watch it." He reached over and grabbed the cookie and settled back comfortably against the couch and opened his up. "Somebody would do anything for you," he read. "Lucky numbers, 3, 4, 9, 10, 43, 45." He flipped the fortune over to see if there was anything on the back, as some had a word or phrase you could learn in chinese. "The food is good. Hen-hao chi."
"Your object of desire comes closer," Leon read from his with a frown. "Lucky numbers, 19, 30, 29, 50, 38, and 23. Pronunciation, Fa-yin. Huh." He stared at it for another moment before tossing it back on the table again, turning his attention to the cookie itself. "I usually don't actually bother with these."
"With reading or eating them?" Cloud asked, already munching on his despite not having the room for it.
"Both," Leon said with a shrug. He popped one half in his mouth. "They don't taste that good."
"I don't think they're supposed to." Cloud tossed his fortune to the table, not wanting to move to actually set it down. "Have you ever had chines food with Yuffie?"
Leon frowned, confused by the question. "Once, when we were working on something. Why?"
"Did you guys read your fortune cookies out loud?" Cloud asked.
"No," Leon told him. "I didn't eat mine."
"Oh. Last time I had chinese around her it was the two of us, Tifa, Cid, Vincent, and Barrett. And she made us all add "in bed," to the end of our fortunes." Cloud wasn't sure why he had brought this up in the first place, other than that it was something to talk about.
Leon thought about that for a moment, and blushed just a little bit when he realized what it made both their fortunes. "Sounds like something Irvine would do," he grumbled, wondering why the hell Cloud had said that.
Cloud smirked. "You're blushing." The fortunes with 'in bed' tacked onto the end weren't that bad. And his was a lot more risque than Leon's. Or he thought, not quite getting the full implications of the word come.
"Shut up," Leon told him. He threw his wrapper at Cloud's head.
"Clever," Cloud replied. He knew he was echoing Leon's words from earlier, but instead of making him feel unoriginal, it made him feel more smug because he'd just got even.
Leon scowled. "You're the one who said that first. So shut up." He was really too sated and too tired to come up with a better argument right now.
"You're a hypocrite," he said, a slight smile playing at his lips. He settled back further into the couch, finding the cushions to be warm and inviting unlike the scratchy ones on the old couch. He yawned and glanced at the television which was still on. Some new movie was starting, but he wasn't sure he really cared what it was.
"How," Leon wanted to know. He sank deeper as well. The stupid blond was right; this couch was much nicer than his old one.
"You made fun of me earlier for the same things you turned around and said." Cloud yawned again. He really did eat too much if it was making him this sleepy.
"And you said the same things I did," Leon pointed out. "Very unoriginal." Watching Cloud yawn made him yawn too.
"Yeah, but I kne-" he yawned yet again, "knew that I was. I was doing it to make fun of y-you." Cloud barely managed to suppress that last yawn.
Leon frowned, then yawned, then frowned some more, this time adding a glare. "Stop yawning. You're making me do it."
"Sorry," Cloud didn't actually sound apologetic. He couldn't help that he was yawning, after all. "Do you have any coffee?"
"I'd have to make some," Leon replied, "and I don't really want to, do you?"
"That requires moving." It wouldn't hurt to rest his eyes for a moment. It wasn't like his cell phone had beeped to say it was charged and when it did, he could get up, call Matt, then shower and change while he waited for him to get there. Cloud yawned again and let his eyes drift closed.
"Are you napping?" Leon asked, though he was hardly in a state to condemn it himself. He sank more comfortably into the new cushions. He supposed they were comfortable enough for it.
"No, just resting my eyes for a minute," Cloud replied.
"Fine," Leon grumbled, and didn't bother informing the blond that he was doing the same.
It didn't take long for Cloud to fall into what pretty much qualified as a food coma, and he was fast asleep and stretched out across the couch. It really had been smart to get a couch like this - not that he expected he'd ever be sitting or sleeping on this couch again after tonight.
It took Leon a little longer, but not much, and soon he was in much the same state, though he was still loathe to admit that Cloud's idea had been a good one.
About an hour later, Cloud stretched his legs out, ignoring that they were rubbing up against something that wasn't cushion, and rolled onto his side, exposing the cell phone that was still attached to his belt and not plugged into the wall. He murmured something unintelligible and fell right back asleep.
Leon was awoken by something rudely rubbing against his feet and shins, and kicked back somewhat blearily. He hadn't been aware he'd fallen asleep until he was Cloud lying on the other end of his new couch. Now he kicked with the intent of waking the other man up. "Hey," he said gruffly, voice still thick with sleep. "Wake up. Weren't you going to call Matt?"
"Phone's on the charger. Hasn't beeped yet," Cloud mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes despite Leon's kicking.
Leon grunted and was about to close his eyes again when they caught on a flash of silver from his belt. He kicked Cloud again. "What's that on your belt, then?"
"Stop that," Cloud grumbled. "What's what?" He reached down and felt around on his belt. "Oh. Shit. I thought I plugged that in." No wonder it hadn't beeped.
Leon narrowed his eyes at the blond. "It was on your belt the whole time?"
"Guess so," Cloud said, shifting to sit up. He glanced over at the wall where the charger was plugged in and connected to... nothing.
Leon rolled his eyes. "Nice, Strife. What time is it?" He pushed himself up into a half-sitting position, running a hand through his hair. When he realized their feet had been tangled he blushed just slightly and pulled his away.
"Ten-thirty," Cloud said, glancing over at the VCR. By the time the phone charged enough for him to call Matt, assuming he moved off the couch right now, it would be quarter to eleven. And then at least a couple of hours if not longer for Matt to get here. Which would mean he wouldn't be getting to Matt's until some ridiculous hour in the morning.
"Too late to call, then," Leon murmured. He swiped a hand through his hair again, thinking. "Guess you'll have to do it in the morning."
Cloud nodded and was about to let himself just flop back over to sleep. "Guess so," he said, managing to stay mostly upright. His stomach was still unbearably full. "Maybe I should call him now so that he can leave in the morning."
"You'd have to charge your phone first," Leon pointed out.
"It doesn't take that long to charge." Something Cloud should have realized sooner when he hadn't heard the beep.
"Then why didn't you think to call sooner?" Leon wanted to know. It wasn't that he was annoyed that Cloud would be staying another night, just dumbfounded as to how exactly it had happened.
"I forgot about it." It was mostly true. Granted he'd remembered a few times, and hadn't bothered to check on his phone, but Leon didn't need to know that.
"Nice," Leon repeated. He stretched a little and sighed. "We should move to the bed."
Cloud raised his eyebrow at the 'we'. "there's a couch with a pull out bed right here that I can sleep on. Cloud said. Granted pulling out the bed required cleaning up the dinner mess, finding sheets and extra pillows and blankets to make the bed up with and it was really a lot of work when he just wanted to roll over and sleep. He got up off the couch to plug in his phone, setting it on a nearby surface.
Leon shrugged. "Then sleep out here. I don't care. You'll have to make the bed, though." He stood up and made for the hall closet, where he kept the extra bedding.
Cloud frowned and walked past Leon, heading for the bedroom. As comfortable as the couch was, he didn't want to sleep all night on it as a couch and he'd already decided making the bed wasn't worth it tonight.
Leon watched him walk past with a frown. "I'll take that as a nevermind?" He closed the closet door and followed him into the bedroom.
"Yeah," Cloud stripped down to the t-shirt and boxers, leaving the clothes in a heap on the floor before climbing into the same side of the bed he slept in the night before.
Leon did the same, though he flipped out the light before he climbed in. Some part of him felt a little uncomfortable sleeping next to the blond man, but he knew it was stupid, so he ignored it.
"Good night," Cloud murmured before curling up tightly under the blankets and falling asleep.
"Mmm," Leon grunted in reply. He made himself comfortable and let himself fall asleep again as well.