OOC: RP Log Cloud and Leon

[onlypartlysunny]

Who: Leon and Cloud
What: Tombstone, Pizza and a motorcycle ride
When: Today (Monday)
Where: Leon's House
Why: Cloud needed to get his ring back and apologize for being rude last time.
Also: As always, innuendo and UST - both of which continue to go over both Cloud and Leon's heads.



Leon had spent most of his morning helping out with the town's restoration, and had hardly sat down on the couch with a fresh book after his shower when he was distracted by the large, somewhat familiar purr of an engine on the street just outside. He frowned as he pushed himself back to his feet and moved to peer with a frown out the window, then stared in surprise when he saw Cloud climbing off that enormous motorcycle he always rode around. He hadn't thought the blond would be back anytime soon.

Cloud had wanted to turn around before he's even left town on Thursday, but his pride and his anger neither one had allowed him to. So he'd driven home to Tifa's, taken the few deliveries he had on Friday then spent the entire weekend with Denzel, Marlene and Stitch - partly to distract him from the thoughts churning around his head, but mostly because he hadn't spent much time with them lately.

It was now Monday and Cloud only had two deliveries to take, neither one of them bringing him very close to Radiant Garden. However, he was running out of reasons to stay away. He'd left his ring behind on the table, having forgot he'd taken it off and the lack of it all weekend had left him feeling uneasy.

Cloud had stopped for lunch along the way, then made another small detour by the video store to rent something for him and Leon to watch. He needed some sort of peace offering, and a reason to stay to make the drive worth it that wouldn't result in another fight.

Leon moved to open the door for him, more of a confused look on his face now than a surprised one. Then he remembered that he'd found a few things here that the man had left in his hurry to leave and gestured for him to come inside. "I put all your stuff on the counter."

Cloud was startled to see Leon already at the door once he looked up from grabbing his bag from Fenrir.Things? Cloud thought, a look of confusion crossing his face before realization hit. Oh right, the toothbrush as well as the ring. He nodded and approached the door, sliding past Leon and taking off his shoes as soon as he was inside.

Leon noticed the momentary confused that flickered across the blond's face and frowned, but didn't call him on it. He closed the door behind him and went to fetch his things.

Cloud started to follow Leon, but wound up stopping at the couch. He sat down in the spot he'd claimed as his, once again finding it cold. He was almost certain if he reached over, he'd find the far corner to be warm. However, he didn't bother with it, instead, reaching into his bag and pulling out the jeans he'd borrowed from Leon.

Leon returned with Cloud's cell phone charger, toothbrush, and ring in hand. "Here." He handed them back before sitting at his end of the couch again.

Cloud tossed the charger and toothbrush into his bag and put his ring back on. He rubbed his thumb over the back of it, reassuring himself that it was actually there. Glancing over at Leon he passed him the jeans. "I don't need them anymore. Thanks."

Leon took them back and set them aside; he hardly remembered that he'd loaned them out. "Thanks."

Everything about this was awkward. Even the silences, which were normally so comfortable radiated an awkward air. Cloud sat there a moment longer before speaking up. "Sorry I took off so rudely the other day."

Leon shook his head. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk. You had every right to leave."

Cloud snorted, "Yeah, you really were one." He paused a moment before adding, albeit more quietly, "Next time you have to be right about something, try not to be a complete asshole about it." It stung his pride a little to admit that out loud, but it wasn't anything he hadn't already admitted to himself.

Leon actually felt a bit of a blush heat his cheeks. "I don't really have control over that last part a lot," he admitted. "So I wouldn't hold my breath, if I were you."

"Doesn't mean you can't try." Cloud noticed that Leon was blushing but decided not to point it out this time.

Leon grunted a noncommittal response. He'd tried before, but he'd never been very good at it. "Drop it while you're ahead, Strife."

Cloud sighed, "Fine. But only because it's stupid to fight this soon after making up."

Leon nodded in reply, privately glad that Cloud wasn't holding what he'd said against him.

The silence was a lot more comfortable now, though there was still that unidentifiable tension in the air. Cloud reached up and scratched the back of his neck, wondering if now was a good time to suggest watching the movie.
"Do you have more deliveries to make?" Cloud looked like he was getting uncomfortable.

"No," Cloud said, shaking his head. "I'm done for the day."

"Really." That was a bit of a surprise. Leon leaned back and draped an arm over the back of the couch. "Do you have any plans?"

It was now Cloud's turn to blush as he reached into his bag and pulled out a rented movie. "I thought maybe we could watch this?"

Leon eyed the movie in surprise for a moment before leaning over and taking it from him, then skimming the back. He decided to ignore the fact that Cloud seemed to actually want to hang out here again and moved straight into what he'd gotten. "Another Western?"

"Yeah." Cloud shifted in his seat. "Is that a problem?"

"No." Leon flipped the case over to study the front. "I've never heard of this one."

"It sounded like it might be good," Cloud replied.

"Well, we can see. Do you want to watch it now?"

"Yeah." Cloud couldn't think of anything else to do. There was always cards, but really, they didn't need to do anything competitive.

"All right." Leon got up to put it in, grabbing the remote on the way back and making himself comfortable on his end of the couch as it started.

Cloud made himself comfortable as well, shifting to lay with his head at the center corner of the couch, this time not bothering to make a fuss about Leon's feet.

Leon pulled his feet back a bit so he wouldn't accidentally kick him, then settled in to actually watch the film.

The movie was once again different from the others, a bit more serious, but it still had it's humorous moments. At one point during the movie Leon's feet were getting a little close to his face again and he quietly reached out and poked one of them.

Leon pulled it back quickly, startled by the ticklish sensation. "...Oh. Sorry." He curled his legs up again and tried concentrating on the movie.

Cloud made a quiet sound, acknowledging his acceptance of the apology.

Leon tried to keep an eye on his feet after that, though he never noticed them sliding down again until they were near Cloud's face. The movie was distracting him.

When Leon's feet wound up in his face again, Cloud reached out and tickled one, hoping it would cause Leon to pay better attention to his feet.

Leon quickly yanked it back again. "Don't," he said before he remembered it was his fault in the first place. He curled his legs and pretended not to notice.

Cloud didn't reply to Leon, just focused his attention back on the movie, glancing over periodically to make sure Leon's feet weren't coming towards him again.

If they were, it wasn't on purpose. By the time the movie finally ended, though, Leon had forgotten to keep them away again. "Well that one was all right too."

Cloud turned to face Leon as he spoke, winding up with a face full of feet. "Dammit, Leon," he mumbled, his breath hot against the cotton that rested a mere centimeter from his mouth.

Leon pulled them back again with a vaguely annoyed glare. "Well you set your head right where they go."

"Because it's more comfortable to watch laying down this way." Cloud thought it was pretty obvious from the fact that he hadn't got a crick in his neck this time.

"Well don't blame me, then."

"They're your feet."

"It's my couch."

"Whatever," Cloud could point out that he'd paid half of it, but he'd gifted that to Leon so that made saying otherwise pointless.

Leon curled his feet again anyway. "Did you like it?"

"Your feet in my face? No. I thought we established that already."

Leon rolled his eyes. "The movie, Strife."

"Oh. Yeah, it was pretty good." Cloud shifted to sit up, remaining in the same spot.

Leon turned to watch the credits finish up. "Were there any more there to rent?"

"Westerns?" Cloud asked. "Yeah. Plenty more."

"All right." Leon made a mental note to actually browse through that section next time he went, probably when he took this one back later.

"Why?" Cloud peered at Leon curiously.

Leon shrugged. "So we can get more if we want them." Why else?

"Oh. Right."

"When are you going back? Or are you staying again?"

"I didn't have a plan beyond returning the pants and watching the movie."

Leon snorted softly. "Well what do you want to do now that those two options are done?"

"My deliveries didn't even bring me this far," Cloud admitted quietly. "So, if it's all right, I'd like to stay."

Leon raised an eyebrow, surprised yet again. "Really." He wasn't sure what else to say. He certainly didn't mind.

"Mmm, yeah." Cloud affirmed. "I finished my deliveries in two hours today."

"They must have been close together," Leon observed.

"Yeah, close enough." Cloud smirked. "Could also be because I was driving fast."

Leon raised his other eyebrow. "How fast?"

"Faster than normal, but slower than if I were chasing after someone."

"Give me a numerical speed, Strife. What's the fastest you can go on that thing."

"The fastest? The speedometer only goes up to 200 kilometers per hour. But I've pushed it faster than that before."

Leon blinked. His expression was unreadable, but internally he was impressed. "And it stays on the ground?"

"No, it flies." Cloud deadpanned. "It's not supposed to," he added, "But it's happened once or twice."

"You should attach hovercraft mechanics to it," Leon advised, ignoring the sarcastic note to Cloud's tone. "Then it can all the time."

"Hmmm... you think Cid might be able to do that?" Cloud was plenty good at maintaining Fenrir, but adding on all the fancy stuff? He left that to other people.

"I can do it." Leon shrugged. He hadn't looked at a hovercraft in years, but he'd never found their mechanics to be particularly difficult. "If it's compatible."

"Really?" Cloud thought about that for a moment. "You haven't ridden him yet. Did you want to?"

Leon blinked. "You don't mind?"

"I haven't let anyone drive Fenrir alone, but Matt drove him once with me on back when we first met. And I don't mind passengers."

Leon didn't enjoy being a passenger all that much, but he was extremely interested in test driving that beast--though he knew he'd end up taking what he could get. "I'll work on gathering hovercraft parts if you'll let me drive it."

"Not alone," Cloud reiterated. It wasn't that he was overprotective of the motorcycle, it was just a matter of there was too much custom on it to let someone poke around on it alone.

Leon frowned, but didn't push it. It was his vehicle, which made it fair enough. "All right."

"Did you want to go now?" Cloud asked. He noticed Leon's frown. "Don't look so sad about it. You'll be glad I'm there when you hit a button on accident and don't know what to do."

"I'm not sad," Leon replied somewhat irritably. He would have liked to be able to fool around with it himself, but he'd suspected this would be the only thing Cloud would allow. "And I wouldn't not know what to do. Put your shoes on, I'm going to go get my jacket." He rose to head off to his room.

Cloud rolled his eyes at Leon's protest but let it slide. He got up and headed to the door to put on his shoes. Once he finished tying them he waited patiently for Leon to return with that ridiculous jacket.

When Leon did, he gave Cloud a look that suggested he better not say anything about it. "Anything I should know beforehand?"

"Don't touch anything that you don't know what it's for." Cloud opened the door and headed outside and waited next to Fenrir.

"Then how will I learn what it does?" Leon asked practically as he followed.

"Why do you need to know?" Cloud asked. Okay, so maybe he was a little overprotective.

"Because I want to know." Leon stopped beside the bike and eyed it appreciatively. It looked a lot nicer than it sounded through the walls of his house. "Where did you get this?"

Cloud told him about the guy who did all the custom work on the machine, though didn't go into detail about all the special features. He patted the seat and then looked to Leon. "Are you going to get on, or just stand there gawking all day?"

Leon glared. "I'm not gawking. It's a good bike and you know it." He moved over toward the seat and glanced at Cloud for final permission before swinging his leg over and making himself comfortable. He had to resist the urge to whistle. It really was a very nice bike.

Cloud nodded then watched as Leon climbed on. He could tell Leon was holding back on his reaction and he couldn't help but smirk just a little. "You're right, I do know it." He climbed on behind Leon. He reached into a hidden compartment and pulled out a pair of goggles and handed them to Leon. "You'll want to wear those when driving."

Leon fitted them over his eyes and then looked around himself for the ignition, finding the little bits that were familiar and wondering what the hell the rest was there for. He leaned forward, wrapped his hands around the handles, and kicked it into gear.

It wasn't until they started moving that Cloud bothered to grab onto Leon, his arms wrapping around his waist, tight enough that he wouldn't go flying off but still pretty loose. If Leon got out of control he could always grip tighter.

Leon stiffened a little, having momentarily forgotten Cloud's presence entirely as the bike actually took off and never being good with physical contact to begin with, but quickly relaxed again when he found a relatively straight road and twisted the handle back to discover just how fast it could go.

Cloud couldn't help the small grin that came as he watched from over Leon's shoulder as he started to pick up some real speed.

Leon hadn't really been in control of anything this fast since his military training years ago, but he was quickly discovering that the instincts had never really gone away. He tilted them close to the ground in order to take a sharp curve before throwing Cloud a quick glance over his shoulder. "Tell me something fun that one of these weird things do!"

Cloud leaned a little closer in order to point to one of the buttons. "That one right there releases my swords from storage for on the go combat." He reached farther across to point out another one. "And that one... well, go ahead and push it, you'll see what it does."

Without further ado Leon pressed the second button and swore when he was nearly thrown from his seat as Fenrir kicked forward like a horse beneath him.

Cloud's grip tightened instinctively as Leon was thrown back from the sudden increase in speed. Realizing that he didn't have goggles on, he pressed his forehead to Leon's shoulder, protecting his eyes from the wind and bugs.

It only took a moment or two for Leon to find his balance back, too much adrenaline pumping through his system for him to really notice Cloud's actions at all. He made sure he'd really gotten control of this new speed before glancing down at the array of buttons again. "Anything else like that?"

"For speed? No." Cloud replied, his voice very close to Leon's ear. "There's a seat warmer two buttons down from the speed booster. And three to the right of the swords is a button you shouldn't ever touch on accident, especially at this speed. Emergency brake."

Leon twitched his fingers away from it, then eyed the others Cloud had pointed out. "Any requests, or should I turn around?"

Cloud shrugged, the motion of his shoulders rising causing Leon's jacket to mirror the action. "Do whatever. You can press another button, or we can head back."

Leon smirked. "You're not bored, are you?"

"If I was bored I wouldn't have given you options."

Leon grinned in the thrill of the moment. "Good. Where do you want to go?" He was already thinking of the possibilities a hovercraft would open up.

"It's not always about the destination, Leon. Sometimes it's just about the driving." Cloud couldn't think of anywhere in particular he wanted to go. "I've got a GPS if we get lost, so just follow the road."

Leon nodded, for once not bothering to try and think of some kind of retort. Cloud had a point, and he was really enjoying himself. He focused on the road instead of the direction it was leading to and let himself live in the moment for a change, until he'd had enough and looked around for this GPS Cloud had mentioned.

"What're you looking for," Cloud asked, noticing a slight decrease in speed.

"This positioning thing." Leon slowed down some more. "Where is it."

"Oh," Cloud said. He tightened his grip with one arm while completely letting go with the other. He reached to his belt and grabbed his cellphone then held it up in front of Leon. "It's on this." With the press of a couple buttons the GPS was generating driving directions to get them back to Leon's house.

"Oh." Leon took it from him, careful not to lose control of the bike. Then he realized he couldn't really hold it and drive at the same time, and handed it back. "Just give me directions."

Cloud took the phone back, still holding it in front of Leon, lower and out of his line of vision so as to not distract him. He began reading off directions into Leon's ear as he leaned over his shoulder to see.

Leon nodded to show he'd heard whenever Cloud spoke, and let the man guide him back until he finally recognized his surroundings again. Then he drove back to his home and reluctantly turned the motorbike off, the air suddenly quiet around him without the purr of the engine or the vibration beneath him. That had been more fun than he'd thought it would be.

When Leon indicated he no longer needed directions, Cloud put his phone away and enjoyed the remainder of the ride. As they pulled up to Leon's, his grip around Leon's waist loosened the more they slowed down. As Fenrir came to a halt, Cloud completely let go of Leon and hopped off the motorcycle. "So, what did you think?"

Leon got off more slowly, a bit reluctant to let the bike go. "...It was all right."

"Only all right?" Cloud asked. He was skeptical of Leon's answer, mostly do to the fact that he didn't seem to want to get off of Fenrir. "Then I guess offering to let you ride him alone some time would be pointless..."

Leon looked up at Cloud sharply. "Alone?"

Cloud shrugged and headed up the steps to the door, waving Leon off. "Doesn't matter. You only thought driving Fenrir was all right."

"Now wait a minute." Leon hurried to catch up to him. "I want to change my answer."

"Oh, now that there's a possibility that you can ride alone you're going to tell me differently? I don't think so." As serious as Cloud looked as he said this, there was a hint of teasing in his voice.

Leon heard it and crossed his arms with a frown. "You're a brat."

"Are we just going to stand outside, or are you going to unlock the door?" Cloud asked, ignoring Leon's comment.

"That depends," Leon replied evenly. "Are you going to let me ride him once in a while, or do you like sleeping outside?"

"You're asking for rent now?" Cloud asked.

"I never said that."

"Exchanging rides on Fenrir for a place to stay? Sounds like it to me."

"Whatever, Strife." Leon brushed past him to open the door for them both. "You have to let me drive him at least once when the hover mechanics are in place."

Cloud stepped inside after Leon. "I didn't say I wouldn't pay your version of rent," he said, taking off his shoes again.

"It's not rent," Leon wanted to clarify as he stopped by the couch to pull off his own. He normally didn't care, but it felt weird not doing it when a guest was here. "It's just a good bike."

Cloud smirked, "See? That wasn't so hard was it?"

Leon glared. "It was all right."

Cloud shook his head, "No, you just said that it's a good bike. I'm not taking anything less than that from you now."

"Maybe I just want to ride it again."

"You didn't even want to get off," Cloud replied. "There's no maybe about it."

Leon shrugged his coat off and went to hang it up in his bedroom. "Whatever." He didn't have a better reply than that, so he didn't bother trying to come up with one.

"Yeah." Leon returned again and collapsed in his own spot. It had been a long day, and he was starting to get tired as well. "Do you want to order in again, or go out?" He really didn't feel like cooking.

"I'd say go out, but that requires shoes. We can order in." Cloud stretched out on his half of the couch and glanced over at Leon. "Pizza?"

Leon shrugged. "Sure, got a preference?" He didn't really.

"Other than ordering only one? No."

That was an odd preference. Leon regarded Cloud previously. "I wasn't planning to order more than one."

"Good," Cloud said before mumbling something about Matt and too many pizzas.

Ah. Matt. Leon didn't push it. "What should we get, then?"

"Hawaiian okay with you?" Cloud asked.

Leon blinked. "Hawaiian?"

"Ham and pineapple... some places also include bacon and extra cheese."

That...didn't sound very good on pizza, but Leon hardly cared. "Sure, that's fine." He'd try it, anyway.

Cloud nodded and then called to order the pizza. "Don't fall asleep."

Leon glared from where he'd lain down and made himself comfortable on the couch. "I won't. I want to eat first."

Cloud reached over onto the coffee table for the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels in hopes of finding something mildly entertaining.

Leon half-watched, half-tried not to let himself drift off. When a knock sounded at the door he peeled himself from the couch cushions and got up to answer it.

Cloud's attention drifted from the television to Leon as he made his way to the door. He watched in anticipation as the delivery guy handed over the pizza. He couldn't help but smirk though as he heard the guy whistle and comment on the sweet bike outside.

Leon rolled his eyes and handed over the money. "Keep the change." He closed the door before the guy could say anything else and eyed Cloud as he moved to set the pizza down on the table. "He wasn't a day over seventeen."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Cloud asked, completely confused by Leon's statement.

"Nothing." If Cloud didn't get it, Leon wasn't going to bother with an explanation. He headed to the kitchen for drinks.

"Whatever," Cloud replied. He reached into the box and pulled out a slice of the piping hot pizza to eat, burning his tongue just a little on the first bite.

Leon fetched plates and glasses of water before returning. He sat on the couch again and eyed the pizza warily. "...And all this goes good together?"

"Yes," Cloud said as he placed the too hot slice down on the plate to cool for a minute. "I wouldn't order it if it didn't."

Leon reached for a piece of his own before taking a small, skeptical bite. He thought for a moment. "Hmm. It's all right." Probably not something he would order on his own, but edible enough.

"Is that your default for everything today? It's all right?"

Leon shot him a glare. "Well I'm not spitting it out, am I?"

"No, you're very clearly swallowing it."

Leon took another large bite, just to spite him.

Cloud rolled his eyes and took a drink from the glass Leon had brought out for him before returning to his slice of pizza.

Leon kept most of his attention on whatever channel Cloud had chosen on the TV as he ate his fill, then finished off his water and laid down on the couch again to relax. At least there would hardly be any dishes.

Cloud ate slowly as he watched the television, not even noticing as Leon laid down.

Leon was too tired to notice his own attention slipping. He laid his head down on his arm and tried to dazedly focus on the plot.

When he was done eating, Cloud shifted to lay down on the couch, his head at the center corner. He stretched in place and stifled a yawn before glancing over at Leon. "You still awake?"

Leon grunted softly, unwilling to completely wake up just to answer a question like that. "Why."

"Just wondering," Cloud said.

"I should go to bed," Leon mused aloud. "What time is it."

"Almost nine," Cloud said after glancing at his cell phone.

Nearly his internal clock's bedtime, then. Leon grunted again. He knew he should get up, but he didn't really feel like it, so he procrastinated a little more by watching the television.

Cloud yawned again and focused his attention back to the TV.

Leon was asleep before he knew it, his eyes finally drifting closed as his breathing evened out.

Startling himself awake, Cloud glanced around. He hadn't even recalled falling asleep, but a glance at the clock showed that he'd only just been starting to. He glanced over at Leon who was fast asleep and sighed. He poked him in the leg a couple of times, trying to wake him up.

Leon didn't budge.

Cloud moved to stand up, tripping over his own foot from turning to quick. He fell forward and caught himself on the arm of the couch, barely managing to prevent himself from falling on top of Leon.

Leon never even noticed. He stirred a little at the sound, but otherwise he was out.

Cloud let out a deep breath and pushed himself upwards, his leg wobbling again. He raised an eyebrow and as he applied pressure to the troublesome foot, he felt pins and needles. How the hell had his foot fallen asleep? Annoyed, he tapped his foot, urging the feeling to return to it as he tried waking Leon again.

Leon stirred again and blinked his eyes open blearily, most of his brain still shut off for the night. "Nngh. What."

"You fell asleep." Cloud's foot finally went back to normal and he leaned a little closer. "Can you make it to bed on your own, or do you need me to carry you?"

Leon sighed and ran a hand through his hair with a frown. "No. I can go."

Cloud raised an eyebrow skeptically and held out his hand to help Leon up.

Leon blinked at it a moment before letting Cloud help him up. Then he looked at the blond as if realizing for the first time that he was there. "Where are you sleeping?"

Cloud ran a hand though his hair and looked anywhere but at Leon. "The couch, I guess."

Leon nodded. "I'll help you pull out the bed."

"I can get it on my own. We left the sheets on it last time. Go get some sleep." Cloud put a hand on Leon's shoulder and gave him a light nudge in the direction of his bedroom, following behind him to the hall closet for a blanket and pillow.

Leon concentrated very hard on not stumbling as he made his way back to his bedroom, only half-hearing whatever Cloud said. He yawned and just remembered to kick off his pants before collapsing on his bed.

Cloud snorted as he looked over just in time to see Leon collapse on his bed. He headed over to the bed and covered Leon up with the blanket, trying his best not to laugh at how exhausted the other man was. He wondered what it was Leon had done all day before he arrived if he was this tired.

Leon was already asleep again, though he curled up a little when he felt the blanket being placed over him.

Cloud stood there a moment watching Leon sleep before he realized what he was doing and headed back into the hall, shutting the door behind him. He grabbed a pillow and blanket from the hall closet before returning to the living room. He stripped down to a tshirt and boxers before plopping down on top of the cushions, the pillow shoved under his head. He pulled the blanket on over top of him and turned off the TV. He could have pulled out the bed, but it was too much work and he was a lot more tired than he'd realized, though not nearly as tired as Leon had been. He fell asleep rather quickly to very vivid dreams.