OOC: RP Log Matt and Cloud

[onlypartlysunny]

Who: Matt and Cloud
What: Cloud goes to stay with Matt like he'd wanted to in the first place
When: January 2nd
Where: Matt's car and apartment
Why: Because Cloud needed snuggles.
Also: You weren't there and neither were your characters. Cloud's favorite Transformer is Ironhide. :|



Cloud let out a sigh and settled back into the seat of Matt's car, the shopping back with his clean clothes, the clothes he bought and wasn't currently wearing and the cell phone charger tossed in the backseat behind him. "Thanks for coming to get me."

"I would have come sooner if you'd called," Matt told him, his eyes on the road as he carefully shifted gears, but his grin directed at the blond next to him. "Have fun there?"

"My cell phone was dead," Cloud replied. He didn't answer Matt's other question because he didn't want to admit that spending time at Leon's was actually not as bad as he'd thought it would be, and kind of fun.

"Never thought to charge it, did you?" Matt teased. "What, with all the fun you must have had and all."

"No, I didn't have a charger with me. Had to go buy one and then thought I'd put it on the charger and hadn't." The last bit was mumbled because it was a bit embarrassing that he hadn't realized he had been wearing the phone for hours after he thought he'd put it on the charger.

Matt flashed him a wide grin. "Got caught up in all the excitement?"

"No, there was no excitement." Cloud crossed his arms and sighed.

"You sure?" Matt teased. "Do you really mean to tell me you spent a whole day there bored out of your mind and waiting for the phone to charge, only to realize later you hadn't actually plugged it in?"

"We had to put together a couch," Cloud replied. "That wasn't boring, but it wasn't exciting either."

"Really?" Matt asked innocently. "Did you cuddle on it together?"

Cloud scowled. "No, we didn't cuddle on it. It was one of those big corner couches."

Matt pouted. "Not even a little cuddle?"

"No. Would you drop it, things aren't like that with him." Cloud sighed again and glanced out the window. He thought he'd be escaping the questions by spending time with Matt, though so far, none of the questions had been about what happened to cause his two nights spent at Leon's, which was what he'd really been wanting to avoid in the first place.

"They~ could~ be~" Matt singsonged, though he kept his eyes pointed innocently at the road.

"They won't be," Cloud replied, his voice indicating that it was the end of that particular discussion.

Matt shrugged, but decided not to press it just yet, with Cloud in the type of mood he had to be in. "So what's up?" he asked instead. "Hungry? We could stop to get some food. Bored? We could go see a movie."

"Just got done eating." Cloud had filled up on two helpings of Leon's cooking before Matt had shown up. "I don't think I could eat anything else without exploding."

"Ooh, really? What'd you have?"

"Grilled cheese and tomato soup," Cloud replied. It had been a simple lunch, but a good one.

"Mmm, sounds good," Matt murmured. "Who made it? You?"

"Leon." Cloud refrained from adding that Leon was surprisingly good at cooking, just as he'd refrained from mentioning that the couch they'd put together was $1400 and he'd paid for half of it.

"Really?" Matt glanced at Cloud. "I didn't know he could cook."

"Neither did I." Cloud shrugged.

Matt grinned. "Quite domestic of him." He couldn't help it.

"It's not like Cid is going to come over and cook for him." Cloud despite being annoyed by the line of questioning, was glad to be around Matt again.

"True," Matt sighed. "I wish someone would come over and cook for me."

"I can't cook very well. Sorry," Cloud said. "Maybe you can convince Tifa to come cook for you sometime."

"I have this guy named Badou," Matt told him. "He brings me groceries and things now, it's awesome. But I haven't seen him in a while."

"Oh. Does he cook?" Cloud asked.

"Yup! He made me a gigantic cookie for Christmas." Matt grinned.

"What kind?" Cloud was a little jealous. No one had baked for him in a while. He hadn't seen or heard from Rukia in a few weeks and he could really go for some of her pie right about now. Or rather later when he felt capable of eating again.

"Chocolate chip," Matt drooled, remembering it. "I think there's a little bit left, if you wanna try it. Assuming Mello didn't find it."

That made Cloud a little more eager to actually get to Matt's. "If there's any left."

"I don't think I ate it all," Matt said with a frown, trying to remember. "There's probably at least a little left."

Cloud attempted a smile. "I'll survive if there isn't any left."

"We can always make more," Matt suggested, trying to keep Cloud in a good mood. "Or, well, regular cookies, I can't master the big pizza ones without burning all of the edges to hell."

"Did you want to get pizza tonight?" Cloud asked, remembering that he'd quickly nixed it the night before in favor of having pizza with Matt tonight.

"We could," Matt said with a nod. "What kind do you like? We could order a bunch and eat it all in the next few days."

Cloud liked the sound of that and nodded. "Maybe one extra cheese, one all meat, one hawaiian and another one... with whatever you want on it?" He was still full from lunch, but that sounded really good. He was already looking forward to dinner.

"One EVERYTHING!" Matt said excitedly. "Chad'll appreciate that. He's camping over too, you know. It'll be great." He grinned.

Cloud suddenly jumped in his seat, "Tifa's probably going to kill me. I left Stitch at her place."

"We could go pick him up?" Matt offered. "We're already in for a long-ass drive anyway, and extra couple hours won't make all that much difference."

Cloud shook his head. "No, I'll deal with her when I go back. She'll probably send him to the church if she gets too annoyed with him." He frowned slightly at that.

"Can he live there on his own?"

"Probably." Cloud shrugged. Stitch was pretty self-reliant, just... destructive.

Matt frowned. "Only probably?"

"I haven't ever left him on his own long enough to think about that." Cloud sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I can hire someone to go get him?"

"Could you?" Cloud asked, perking up slightly. He really didn't want to go back there yet, even if it was just to pick up Stitch. "Maybe they can even grab a few of my things?"

"Yeah, I could do that." A list of trustable hire-ees came to mind. "I can do it tomorrow."

"Okay," Cloud said, relaxing into his seat again. "I'll give Tifa a call tonight and ask her to have a few things together along with Stitch to be picked up." Hopefully she wouldn't ask to many questions, and if she did, well, maybe he could pass the phone off to Matt.

"Works for me," Matt agreed. "I'll order the works for us tonight. What else do you like to eat?"

"My tastes haven't changed since the last time I gave you a list," Cloud replied. Except they had, but only to reflect the things Matt had him try that he wound up liking.

"Great, then I'll just get it all," Matt said with a grin. "It'll be wicked."

Being around Matt made it difficult to remain grumpy, or emo, or really anything but happy. Or if not happy at least not anything negative. Cloud laughed quietly at Matt's enthusiasm.

Matt grinned when he noticed, and reached over to ruffle Cloud's hair affectionately. He couldn't help it; it'd been so long since he'd seen the blond, and he wanted to make him feel better after what had happened.

"Hey, keep your hands on the wheel," Cloud said, trying to duck away. Not that he could say anything about it seeing as he often drove one handed, but then he was usually fending off bad guys with the other hand, so it was different.

Matt ignored him and reached to ruffle his hair again, the car only swerving the tiniest bit. "I know how to drive," he teased, then smirked. "I've gotten rather good at driving with one hand."

"Why do you need to drive one handed?" Cloud asked, shifting away again.

Matt just grinned. He was only teasing, of course, but Cloud didn't need to know that.

"Well?" Cloud glanced over at him, an eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.

Matt's grin turned sly.

"Matt..."

Now it was innocent. "Cloud?"

"Why have you been driving one handed?" Cloud sounded serious as he asked Matt.

"Well I do like to drive," Matt said with a straight face. "And Mello does like to ride..."

Cloud's cheeks went a little pink. "Pretend I didn't ask."

Matt grinned. "But you did."

Cloud looked away, trying to hide the spreading blush.

Matt failed to keep himself from laughing. "Oh come on, I'm joking with you. Mello drives his motorcycle."

"That doesn't mean he can't possibly ride in here. I normally drive mine and look where I am." Cloud crossed his arms and pouted just slightly.

Matt smiled and ruffled his hair again. "Oh, he's ridden there before."

"Whatever."

"What are you, Leon now?" Matt asked with a grin.

"No!" Cloud glared at Matt for that comment.

"What a vehement protest," Matt mused aloud, putting a finger to his lips in mock thought. "Perhaps there's some interest there after all."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud decided to take the clueless route even though he had some idea of what Matt was getting at.

"Was his couch comfortable?" Matt teased. "Probably not as comfortable as his bed. You should ask to share next time."

Cloud looked out the window. "Yeah, it was fine."

"Oh come on, cheer up." Matt knocked open the glove box and tugged out a case of CDs. "Put some music on, I've got everything you could possibly want in there."

Cloud didn't turn back to face Matt until he was certain that the pink that had flooded his cheeks was gone. He knew if Matt knew that he and Leon had shared the bed - in a perfectly innocent manner - he'd never hear the end of it. "Fine," he said and began flipping through the CD case.

"Oh come on, you were smiling a minute ago," Matt told him. "Think of something hilarious and laugh again."

Cloud smiled, though he didn't bother to think of anything funny. Matt had assumed he was upset, and though he wasn't, he didn't think it necessary to inform him otherwise.

"Better," Matt conceded, "but not your best. Which CD, do you think?"

"How about this one?" Cloud asked, holding one up.

Matt glanced at it and shrugged. "Sure, pop it in."

Cloud put the CD in and turned up the volume. The music was mellow but upbeat and he smiled. "This is really good."

Matt grinned at the blond. "Glad you like it. I've got more."

"This'll do for now." Cloud relaxed into the seat and enjoyed the drive and the music.

"Tired?" Matt asked, glancing over at him. "You can nap if you want, we've got a while."

"No, got plenty of sleep last night," Cloud replied.

Matt raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing, though a smirk tugged at his lips.

Cloud had expected some sort of response from Matt and when he got none he looked over. "What?"

"Nothing." Matt grinned to himself.

"I don't believe you," Cloud replied. He honestly didn't know what Matt was grinning about.

"Why not?" Now Matt pouted. He got way too much fun out of teasing Cloud.

"Because you were smiling that smile you get when it's not nothing."

"Was I?"

"Yes." Cloud sounded slightly exasperated.

"Hmm." Matt looked thoughtful. "I don't remember."

"Sure you don't." Cloud sighed, planning to give up on pushing Matt for what he was smiling about.

Matt grinned. "You're hilarious."

"How?"

"No how. You just are."

Cloud let out yet another sigh. "Whatever."

Matt sighed as well, as he settled back in his seat. "See?"

"See what?" Matt was just talking in circles now and it was confusing Cloud.

Matt grinned. "Nothing." He knew he'd lost the blond, and it amused him.

"Frustrating me isn't going to help me stay cheerful, you know." Cloud flicked to the next song on the CD, finding the looping beat of the one they had been listening to irritating.

"You can't use your mood as a vocal weapon," Matt pouted, "it's not fair."

"And all your 'Nothing's are fair?"

"Why wouldn't they be?" Matt asked quizzically. Honestly, Cloud made absolutely no sense sometimes.

"I don't get what's so grin worthy about my getting plenty of sleep last night."

"You slept at Leon's," Matt reminded him. "Whether you got a good sleep or a bad one, either's good material for a grin." He grinned.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Why are you so weird and obsessed about Leon and I?"

"Because you're pretty," Matt said with a goofy grin. "Am I not allowed to?"

"What does that have to do with anything? We don't like each other." Cloud wasn't sure that was entirely true anymore, they'd got along fairly fine while he was over, at least when they weren't bickering.

"You don't like him?" Matt clarified. "Or you dislike him?"

"What's the difference?" Cloud asked.

"One is neutral. The other is an actual emotion."

"Oh. Well." Cloud paused. "I guess it's the neutral one."

"Well then," Matt said with a grin. "Neutral generally means you're reserving final judgment for a later time. I think he's single, you know." He knew he was walking a thin line, bringing up relationships again when Cloud's had just fallen apart, but as long as he was careful and kept Cloud talking about the current subject and no other one, he thought he might be all right.

"Matt, drop it now." Cloud didn't want to think about relationships right now, his own or others' - not when his just ended the way it did.

"Oh, fine," Matt sighed dramatically, his voice light even as his brain worked to find a better topic. "It's a pity though, with all that leather and all...heeeey, have you ever seen the original Die Hard?"

Cloud stiffened at the mention of leather. It was all Kadaj ever wore. Leather from head to toe. Trying to focus his attention back on the conversation, he replied, "No, I haven't."

"Well we should watch it, then," Matt told him amiably, though he'd noticed the way the man tensed. Backtracking, he realized where he'd gone wrong and cursed to himself. Stupid fucking Kadaj. He'd somehow managed to ruin everything. "We can build up the nest," he promised, eager to get Cloud's mind out of the slums again. "So that we have like a million blankets to curl up in. And Chad will be our own personal waiter; he'll fetch us the pizza boxes and everything. Which is kind of funny, if you think about it. Asking a cockroach to fetch your food for you."

Cloud's lips curled up into a tiny smile. "Sounds like a plan." And the perfect way to spend a weekend.

"That's what I thought when I was planning it," Matt revealed. "What other movies do you want to see?"

"Have you ever seen that movie with Jackie Chan where it's a western and a kung-fu movie?" Cloud asked. He mostly just wanted to know what the name of the movie was, but he wouldn't mind watching it again, seeing as he'd missed the beginning.

"Shanghai Noon?" Matt asked with a glance. "Sure, why?"

"I think that's what it's called." Cloud said. He had no clue, really. "I haven't seen the whole thing and I'd like to."

"Well I've got that one too," Matt told him. "And the sequel. We can watch them both, if you want."

"There's a sequel?" Cloud asked. He ignored the little thought in his head that said he'd have to tell Leon about there being a sequel.

"Yup, Shanghai Knights," Matt said with a grin. "Not nearly as good, but amusing enough."

"What I saw of Shanghai Noon wasn't that great either, but I want to know what happened at the beginning." Of course, Cloud hadn't been able to turn his attention away from the movie, so it couldn't have been that bad.

"Did you turn it on late or something?" Matt asked. "It's an older movie, they play it a lot. You'll probably catch it again later easily."

"Yeah," Cloud said, nodding. "I don't have a TV at..." he trailed off.

"You can have one of mine, if you want," Matt offered. "I have like a million, and I could set it up to receive satellite."

"When I go back, I'll only be staying at Tifa's." Cloud shifted in his seat. He'd just have to find other means of escape than going to the church.

"Oh yeah?" That was new news to Matt. "Does she have a TV?"

"Yeah, there's a TV. I've watched Disney movies on it with Denzel and Marlene." Cloud glanced out the window, watching the landscape roll by.

"Aw, that sounds cute," Matt mused with a grin. "I haven't really hung out with kids since I was one."

"You mean you're not still one?" Cloud teased.

Matt stuck out his tongue at the blond.

"That answers that." Cloud smirked.

Matt punched his arm playfully. "Prat." He couldn't repress his grin.

"We almost there?" Cloud was getting restless and wanted to get out of the car. He'd thought about asking Leon the same a few times when they were driving to his place, but Leon had seemed annoyed and he hadn't wanted to wind up even more on his bad side.

"Yeah." Matt glanced over at him. "Wanna get out for a minute, or ride it out?"

"I can wait if we're almost there." Cloud looked over at Matt before looking back out the window.

"Okay. Well, we are." Matt sped up a little. He was eager to get home as well.

Cloud's restlessness was eased a little bit as Matt sped up. "Thanks," he murmured.

"I'm trying," Matt replied. "Just unfamiliar roads and all."

"I don't do passenger very well," Cloud said. He hoped Matt understood what he meant, because he wasn't sure how else to explain it.

"Me neither." Matt flashed him a grin. "There's something about actually steering the vehicle that makes you feel better about being inside it."

Cloud smiled. "Something like that."

Matt patted the wheel appreciatively. "If she weren't so precious, I'd let you drive her. Maybe after you've settled in a bit? You know stick, right?"

"Yeah, I know stick." Cloud was surprised to hear Matt's offer, but then he'd allowed him to drive Fenrir, granted he'd been passenger for that, so it seemed fair that he'd eventually get to drive Matt's car.

"Good, then it'll be easy. I haven't made any modifications to the driving itself."

"Okay."

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful, if long, and when they finally arrive at Matt's apartment he got out of the car and stretched.

Once Cloud was out of the car, he felt a lot less restless. It was funny how he could drive for hours and hours on Fenrir without getting restless, but confined inside a vehicle as a passenger and he couldn't deal with the long drive.

"Let's go up," Matt suggested. He reached into the back to help with Cloud's bags. "Hungry? Tired?"

"Not really either," Cloud said, following Matt up to the apartment.

"Okay," Matt shrugged. He opened up the door for Cloud and led them both inside. "Wanna watch a movie or something, then?"

Cloud nodded. Watching a movie sounded good, especially if it meant curling up in the nest together.

"Okay. Feel free to curl up, I'm gonna go get the movie and stuff." Matt disappeared into his bedroom for a few minutes, kicking off his shoes and putting away his car keys before returning.

Toeing off his shoes, Cloud looked around the apartment as he made his way to the nest. They'd have to add more blankets and pillows to it later, but there was enough for now. He laid down and sprawled out until he heard Matt's footsteps returning. "Which movie are we going to watch first?" He shifted into a curled up position, waiting for Matt to curl up behind him.

Matt hummed and grinned and immediately hopped over to take his place behind the blond, slipping an arm around his waist comfortably and leaning in to nuzzle the back of his neck. His free hand found the remote and dropped it into one of Cloud's. "I think it's in there already, there's a list on the title screen. Pick whichever."

Cloud practically melted as Matt's arm wrapped around him. He could feel all the tension in his body slipping away. He'd known he needed this, he just hadn't realized how bad until now. He lazily handled the remote, flipping through the options on the title screen before settling on one.

Matt barely noticed, focused as he was at making himself and Cloud comfortable. He felt it when the blond relaxed, and continued to nuzzle and soothe him, hoping for more of the same. He hadn't been entirely certain at first that Cloud wanted this kind of thing so soon after losing someone as close as Kadaj had been, but he understood the sentiment now that he did, and didn't let go of Cloud again for a second.

"Thank you," Cloud whispered as the movie started. He shifted back as tightly as he could against Matt, seeking the warmth and contact, just being able to feel something so soothing, comforting, something to remind him he wasn't alone.

"Mmm, you make it sound like I'm going out of my way for you," Matt murmured against his ear. He flipped a blanket over them both and snuggled into it. "I like doing this."

Cloud made a quiet pleased sound. As helpful as Leon had been, if he'd attempted this... Cloud didn't think it would have been anything less than incredibly awkward.

Matt made a pleased sound back, and finally glanced up at the television. "What'd you pick?"

"I don't know. The title made it sound like some sort of action movie. Blades-something." Cloud was beginning to think he should pay more attention to things like movies and video games because Matt always talked about them and half the time he had no clue what he was on about.

Matt grinned and kissed just beneath Cloud's ear. "Comedy. Hilarious. You might like it."

"Oh," Cloud said with a blush. "Is it and action movie too? I mean, it has blades in the title... that's action-y, right?"

"If you consider the Icecapades action," Matt giggled, amused. "It's about ice skating. And you're blushing, sir." He nuzzled it.

This only managed to make Cloud blush even more. He'd picked a movie about Ice skating and it was a comedy. Well, if Matt had it, it couldn't be as bad as it now sounded. "I expected epic battles with swords..."

Matt laughed. "Highlander," he mused, "Shinobi. But this one's good too, just in a different way. You're cute when you blush."

Cloud lightly elbowed Matt in the stomach. "I am not."

Matt tickled him. "Adorable."

Cloud squirmed. "Knock it off or I'll miss the beginning."

Grinning, Matt stopped ticking him conventionally and instead nipped and nuzzled down the curve of his neck, nosing aside his shirt. "It's a comedy. It's not all that engrossing."

Cloud frowned as he felt Matt's mouth moving across his skin. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it - it felt good - it was just too soon to be that physical. "Matt?" he asked quietly.

"Hmm?" Matt hadn't actually intended to go any further, but at Cloud's soft voice he stopped anyway, wondering if he'd gone too far already. His boundaries in that area had gotten a little skewed over the last few years. "Too much? Sorry. You just smell so good." Which he did, but Matt supposed he could limit that sensation to his nose for now.

Cloud nodded, not particularly trusting his voice. This was supposed to be platonic, or even a little above and beyond platonic, but not... that. Not yet, at least.

"M'kay." Matt understood, and snuggled up against the blond instead, though he wanted very, very badly to kiss him again. But he'd known now probably wasn't the best time since Cloud had called him a couple days ago, so he was prepared to settle for snuggles. Which, really, were fine with him.

Once he was sure that Matt was going to stick to just the snuggling, Cloud was able to relax and enjoy the movie, laughing quietly at the parts he thought were funny.

Matt, who had seen the movie about ten times now, was more amused by Cloud's reaction to it than the movie himself. It was still enjoyable, though, made even moreso by the fact that he got to hang out with Cloud again, despite everything that had happened.

By the end of the movie, Cloud felt great, he also felt tired, everything from the past few days, along with all the time spent traveling catching up to him. He yawned and tilted his head so he could look at Matt. He was going to say something, but then he yawned again and forgot what it was.

Matt smiled. "I'll go get us some more blankets and stuff. Don't move." He extricated himself from the warmth and hurried off to find things for them. He hadn't slept in a couple days now, and was ready for a good nap himself.

Cloud wasn't going to move anywhere. He was comfortable and while the loss of heat at his back was disappointing, he knew it would be back soon. "Mmkay," he murmured sleepily.

Matt returned with an armful, and dropped the pillows on Cloud's head as he heaped the covers over his back. Then he slipped back inside the mound with him. "Mmm, better?"

"Much, now that you're back." Cloud yawned again then settled back against Matt, quickly falling asleep.

Matt grinned and quickly settled in as well, listening to Cloud's breathing even out before he let his as well.

It was dark out by the time Cloud woke up. They hadn't had any lights turned on earlier, just sunlight trickling in through the window, and now there was none. Cloud stretched and looked around for a clock before reaching down to his belt for his cell phone. With the press of a button, the display lit up and '1:44 AM' flashed across the screen. Had they really napped that long? He put the phone back and relaxed against Matt, not wanting to extricate himself from the warm embrace just yet.

Matt was tugged out of his sleep when he felt Cloud moving, but made no move to get up himself, instead clinging to the blond sleepily. "Nnh, what time is it?"

"Late. Quarter to two," Cloud replied. Considering it was after two when they got here, he didn't think it necessary to state whether it was am or pm.

"Mmm, already?" Instead of pulling away when he heard the time, Matt snuggled closer, closing his eyes again and yawning sleepily. "Didn't feel like we were out that long."

"I didn't think I was that tired." Cloud's stomach rumbled. "Unless you know of pizza places open this late... I think we're going to have to have something else for now."

"They're open until three," Matt mumbled without opening his eyes. He'd ordered late from them a dozen times before. "So we're got time. Wanna order now?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Cloud shifted so he could somewhat face Matt, his hair brushing across Matt's face in the process. "Do you need to get up?"

"Do I have to?" Matt retorted. He tightened his arms around the blond. "It looks cold out there."

Cloud laughed. "No, I was hoping you could call the pizza place from here."

"If you can reach the phone, yeah." Matt nodded where it was sitting on a table a few feet away. "I don't know why I left it there. It's so far."

"Do you know the number for the pizza place?" Cloud asked. If Matt did, he'd just hand him his phone.

"No." Matt then realized his options and actually thought about it. "Er. Well yeah, maybe. What do you want to get? Everything?"

"Yeah," Cloud reached for his phone and handed it to Matt. "Actually, if you don't know the number, you can probably look it up online. That thing has internet."

"Yeah?" Matt's fingers were already flying over the numbers without much conscious effort. He'd seen them on his own cell phone screen often enough.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. It's useful when I'm on the road."

"Satellite, then?" Matt asked curiously, phone pressed to his ear. A moment later, though, he had to order for them, and he couldn't listen to Cloud until he was finished.

Listening as Matt placed the order, Cloud's stomach rumbled again. Hopefully this place delivered fast. Once Matt hung up, he replied, "Yeah, satellite."

"That's cool," Matt said, and then unceremoniously dumped himself in Cloud's lap with a wail. "I don't want to have to get up to answer the doooor!"

Cloud laughed and took his phone back, reattaching it to his belt. "You're going to make me, aren't you?"

Matt just sniffled miserably.

"Fine." Cloud sighed and pulled Matt closer. If he was going to have to get up when the pizza came, he was going to get in as much snuggling as possible before.

Matt nestled closer willingly, his arms tightening around Cloud as he settled inside the blankets again warmly. "We should do this more often."

"This is why I wanted to be here," Cloud said. The instead of at Leon's was implied.

"Mmm, well you're welcome over any time," Matt told him warmly, nuzzling him. "How long do you wanna stay?"

"A few days?" Cloud shrugged. "I don't want to stay too long, but I know I'm not ready to go back yet."

"You can stay as long as you want," Matt murmured honestly. "I like the company."

"Thanks." He reached for his phone again, this time to send Tifa an email, asking her to go to the church and get his lock box, and anything else of his that was laying around, and a few spare changes of clothes together and that someone would be there within the next 24 hours to pick all that up and get Stitch out of her hair. He also added that he'd be back soon, he just needed some time away.

After hitting send, Cloud put the phone away and looked back at Matt. "I just told Tifa to expect someone there tomorrow to pick up Stitch and a few of my things. So, don't forget to call whoever it was you were going to call tomorrow."

Matt listened to Cloud pressing his blackberry's buttons quietly, a hand drifting up his side to stroke through the blond's hair. He wasn't entirely certain he could offer much more than snuggles and a warm bed to help console Cloud, and while he suspected he would need more, he wanted to do what he could for the time being. So he grinned and snuggled close again when Cloud spoke to him. "I won't."

"Better not," Cloud whispered. His cheek rubbed against Matt's as he said this. It was a comforting bit of contact.

Matt practically purred as he rubbed back. It had been way too long since he'd gotten to cuddle with Cloud like this, and he planned to make the most of this opportunity while he could.

Cloud wished he could have been able to visit Matt on better terms than this, he wished that the idea of doing anything beyond snuggling didn't make him feel a pang of guilt, didn't make him think about Kadaj. He didn't want to forget about Kadaj, he just wished he could do or think anything remotely sexual without being reminded of him. "Is it normal to compare everything to your first?" Cloud whispered, his voice sounded choked, like he was trying to hold back all emotion.

"Yeah," Matt murmured, holding him close again and stroking his back soothingly. "Your first good one." He had experience in those matters, at least.

Cloud let out a shuddered breath and buried his face against Matt's neck. "He was..." He could feel the tears forming and he was a grown man, he shouldn't be crying so much, should he? He wrapped his arms tightly around Matt, nearly squeezing him.

"Yeah?" Matt squeezed back, then let a hand drift up to stroke through Cloud's hair. If the man wanted to talk about it, he'd talk about it with him.

"It hurts..." Cloud said, his choked voice strained further by his trying to hold back from crying. "I can't stop thinking about him, and when I do, I eventually start again and then I feel bad for having stopped."

Matt sighed as he worked to soothe the blond, fingers stroking his hair and back as he held him close and nuzzled his temple. "It'll be okay. His memory isn't going anywhere, you can take as long to think or not think about it as you like."

Unable to hold it back any longer, Cloud let everything go, sobbing hard against Matt's shoulder. His fingers tugged at the back of Matt's shirt as he clasped and unclasped his hands.

Matt didn't mind. He held Cloud tightly and murmured whatever soothing sound he could think of, not allowing his mind to dwell on how much he hated Kadaj for doing this to the blond, after everything he'd been through before, because right now Cloud obviously didn't hate the man, so Matt couldn't either.

Cloud didn't stop crying until the pizza guy knocked at the door. And he only stopped then because he'd told Matt he'd answer the door. He wiped his face on Matt's shirt, hoping he didn't look too bad, and moved to get up.

Matt immediately tugged him back down again. "Don't be stupid, this is my place. I'll get it. He snatched his wallet off the table and got up to answer the door, paying the man and then hauling an armful of pizza boxes back to his nest with Cloud. "Christ. Think we got enough?"

Cloud looked up and saw Matt's arms loaded down with pizza boxes and laughed. "I was told I order too much, but it looks like you beat me there."

"Well, it'll get eaten." Matt would have shrugged if he didn't mind the risk of cheese and tomato stains in his carpet. He carefully set them all down on the table and disappeared into the kitchen for soda.

The problem wasn't it getting eaten, but how much of it would they try to eat in one go. Cloud predicted another food induced coma. He began peeking into the boxes, trying to decide which he wanted to try first while he waited for Matt to return.

Matt came back with about ten sodas stacked in his arms. He dumped them all in a heap next to the table before diving on the pizza himself. "Christ, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since this morning."

Cloud eyed the soda, "Grab enough?" He reached blindly for one, not caring what it was and popped it open, taking a long drink. He was really thirsty from all the crying. Once his thirst was sated, he reached for the extra cheese pizza and grabbed a slice, this one was best hot.

Matt went for the one with everything on it with a grin. "I dunno, I didn't want to have to go back for more later. Wanna watch the telly?"

Cloud laughed around a bite of pizza. The telly? As soon as he finished his bite he said, "I thought this was Japan, not Britain, but sure."

Matt bopped him on the head. "Shut up, I just woke up. It slips. We can watch Shanghai Knights if you want."

"Can we watch something else?" Cloud asked. "I want to watch something with epic battle scenes."

"Epic battles...Transformers?"

"Are there swords?" Cloud looked hopefully at Matt for a moment before going back to eating his slice of pizza.

"Not really, but there's GIANT ROBOTS," Matt told him around a mouthful of pizza.

That sounded interesting. He nodded as he took another bite.

"Wicked," Matt grinned, and fumbled with the remote for a moment to get the movie playing.

Cloud finished his slice and reached for another, this time going for the hawaiian.

Matt buried himself in blankets and made sure the pizza and soda was within easy reach before letting himself sigh and relax and enjoy the movie.

Cloud scooted a little closer to Matt until he could feel Matt's side pressed against his. The movie was more interesting then he thought it would be.

As soon as Matt was full he snuggled against Cloud comfortably again, enjoying the man's warmth.

Cloud was pleased with Matt's selection. The movie, while not the epic sword battles he was longing for, certainly had epic battles, and the characters were interesting. Once the movie was over, Cloud spoke, "I didn't know robots could have personalities."

"It's called artificial intelligence," Matt told him, "and it's fascinating."

The emphasis Matt put on fascinating made Cloud smile. "Really?"

"Yeah, you program them to learn from their environments," Matt explained. "We're not quite at that level of precision yet, but we're getting there. It's so cool. Have you seen Star Wars?"

"No, but I've heard of it." Cloud said. "I don't really watch many movies."

Matt stared in blank, horrified shock.

"What?"

He was already reaching for the remote. "We're watching those next."

"Are there swords in it?" Cloud asked.

"LIGHTSABERS!"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "These movies better be as good as I heard they are."

"They're SO GOOD," Matt said excitedly. "Oh man, they're still my favorites--er, the first three, anyway. You'll love 'em!"

So far he hadn't watched a movie Matt liked and not liked it himself. Cloud decided that he should probably put more trust into Matt's movie taste. "Okay."

Matt grinned with excitement as he set the movie to play before snuggling down with Cloud again, wrapping his arms around the blond and settling his chin on his shoulder.

Cloud was pretty sure that if he spent a week like this with Matt, he couldn't be anything but happy. Granted he might wind up weighing a few extra pounds, but it wasn't like he couldn't work that off easily.