A/N: I'm sorry I didn't update faster! But I really did appreciate every single review that was posted last chapter. I really wanted to post faster, but it didn't work well with all the content I had intended to put into this chapter! So sorry once again, but please enjoy the well awaited chapter.
Leon didn't want to be accused of touching anything, so he had left the room without pulling Cloud's boxers or pants back up, leaving the articles where Cloud had left them, down around his knees while he still laid on his stomach on the bed.
When Cloud woke up, he was absolutely furious. At first though, he was confused to as why his lower half was naked, and then he remembered the shot and Leon, and nothing good could have come out of that. He took off his boxers and pants completely as his hands felt around his body to make sure there was nothing wrong with him like a third arm, but everything felt normal. He walked over to his mirror and checked his reflection, and not a single imperfection was shown; that is until he turned around. In a very contrasting color to his white skin was the cursive word "Leonhart" in bold, permanent marker across his left buttcheek.
Cloud was two steps away from opening his bedroom door and marching on over to Leon's room when he had to backtrack and cover his naked arse. The more time he spent not kicking Leon's ass just infuriated him more and he stomped all the way from his room to Leon's doorframe and stopped dead in his tracks.
Leon's back was to Cloud, facing his sliding mirror closet, sporting damp hair and wet skin, and utterly lacking clothing. The moment Cloud took one step into the room, the waistband of Leon's red briefs were barely halfway up his thighs, giving Cloud only a moments glimpse of the creamy sun-kissed skin of Leon's ass. With a final snap of his waistband against his hips, Leon raised his arms to flip through his clothes, water droplets from his shoulders dripped down to his back. He picked out black pants and a sleeveless black top and tossed them onto his bed. The brunet ran his fingers through his hair a few times and slid the door to his closet closed.
From Cloud's vantage point at the door, when Leon slid the mirror door closed, he got a really nice view of Leon's front body. The skin tight red briefs Leon was wearing left no imagination to the eye as it perfectly outlined his manhood. Cloud's anger had died down and he unconsciously licked his lips as he stayed close to the wall, hoping that he'd be hidden just a bit longer. So far, Leon did not seem to have noticed his guest yet. Leon had his eyes downcast as he reached his right hand into his briefs and readjusted himself. Cloud's cock twitched at that.
Grabbing the black pants off of the bed and slipping them on, he zipped up his pants a little more slowly and started to put on a belt. Well, that's it for that wicked fashion show.
"How long are you going to keep spying on me?"
Cloud was too entranced into watching Leon change that he jumped out of his skin when Leon met his eyes through the mirror and spoke up.
"I was just uhh.. getting my sword." That statement became true as Cloud spotted his sword at the foot of Leon's bed which he had left there since last night by the door and have been moved since by Leon himself. The blonde became so focused on retrieving his sword that he had forgotten the reason he was in Leon's room in the first place, until the brunet reminded him.
"So how are you feeling?" Leon asked. Now, that wasn't asked in a concerned voice at all, rather in a very playful and teasing tone and he watched the blonde stop right in his tracks and blink twice, then Cloud's whole body language changed to one of tense anger.
"Leon! How could you do that!" Sword forgotten, he made his way to Leon, a mere inch away from his face as he pointed an accusing finger at Leon.
"How could I do what?" Leon feigned innocence.
Cloud lost all patience as his face heated up and his whole face was turning pink. "This!" He turned away from Leon and in a split second, pulled down his pants along with his boxers and practically mooned at Leon.
Leon leaned back from where he was standing and let out a low whistle as he took in the very nice sight of Cloud's ass with his signature on it. "Wow Cloud, that looks very nice. You should get that tattooed."
"Arrgh!" Cloud let out a frustrated sound as he quickly pulled up his pants, but what happened next neither of them would have expected it. Cloud had turned around and put both hands on Leon's chest and gave a very firm shove which resulted in Leon falling harshly backwards onto his bed, and Cloud climbed on after him, hovering his body above Leon's. Leon was quite astound by the blonde's boldness and but otherwise remained unfazed. "You. Owe. Me. For that bellyflop yesterday, for this morning's comment about the way I smell, and for tattooing my ass with your name on it in permanent marker." Cloud had Leon's arms pinned beneath him and he leaned in and was a mere inch away from forcing a kiss from Leon's lips, but even someone as strong as Cloud would be no match for Leon.
Leon would always be stronger than Cloud, and he proved so by clamping a hand against his lips under the blonde's strong hold. It had hurt him, it really did. No matter how much he wanted Cloud to kiss him, or for him to kiss Cloud, right now wasn't the moment.
"We can't yet, Cloud. You're not doing this for any of the right reasons. To get back at me or as a form of repayment, do you think that's a good way to have your first kiss with me?" Leon asked as he watch Cloud slowly draw back as if realizing for the first time what he was about to do.
"I..uhh,"
"We can't kiss until we have made our oath."
Leon sat up and rummaged through his pants pocket and withdrew a small velvet box containing two rings.
"Oh gods, Leon. Please don't tell me you're proposing. We haven't even kissed yet."
"No Cloud, this is the oath. It makes our relationship official, giving me the title of being your exclusive butler and guardian. The rings are magically bound." He held out the less intricate one and handed it to the blond, "You can put that one on me."
Cloud to the ring in his hand and examine it slowly. Their ring was a rather silver and plain, but the luster it gave off hinted to Cloud that it was rather expensive. "So you're not really my butler until I put this ring on you?" He finished examining it and looked into steel gray eyes. His anger was long gone. "Which finger does it go on?"
"The left ring finger." He held out his right ring finger just like he said and waited for him to put it on, which the blonde did delicately, lightly brushing his fingers against Leon's. Once securely on, Leon spoke up once again, "Before you accept this ring I'm about to put on you, you must accept its full responsibilities. Your ring is a bit more complicated than mine. While my ring doesn't affect you, if you ever were to take this ring off of you purposefully, it would send shockwaves into my body until I die."
"What? Then why would I ever want to put a thing like that on?" Cloud asked in utter disbelief; it sounded like some dangerous toy with dire consequences. "There's no way I'm going to-"
"Please?" Leon asked with a pleading look and for the first time he looked vulnerable. It wasn't a look that he would be showing too often, just once to show that he really needed Cloud to accept this oath because he was willing to do anything in his power to protect him, no matter the consequences.
It had something to do with the way he looked at him, because it was working. The blond hesitantly looked at the other ring in the box before replying, "Okay, but I really don't understand why anyone would put something like that on," in a soft voice.
Leon had taken the other ring from the box and was inwardly smiling. "Give me your right hand."
Cloud complied, placing his right hand onto Leon's open left palm, his eyes completely trained on Leon's face and his utterly beauty scar. Blue eyes trailed downwards to the brunette's bare chest but his attention was brought back to the ring when Leon brought Cloud's hand to his lips, kissing the ring he had just placed and leaving tingles on his fingers.
"So why would someone take off the ring again?" Cloud asked.
"They would take it off if they no longer wanted us as their butler or if we have failed as butlers and enraged our masters," Leon explained.
Cloud had barely taken notice to something, seeing their rings brush slightly against each other as Leon hadn't let go of his hand yet. This was his first good look at the ring; his obviously different from Leon's. The ring was silver also, but the engraved designs gave off a shinier sparkle. "Why are our rings on different hands? My ring is so much girlier than yours."
"Mine is on the left hand because when shockwaves are sent, it's sent through the ring, and since the heart is more inclined to the left side of the body, it would kill me faster."
Cloud was a bit surprised at Leon's passive tone about the ring being able to kill him so quickly. "I won't take it off. I promise," Cloud said with all sincerity and gave Leon's hand a slight squeeze.
The brunette could help but show a rare smile to the blonde. It was the simple gesture of Cloud squeezing his hand that let him know that Cloud had started to accept him into his life. That realization made his cold heart melt into place. He's been waiting for moments like this and dreaming for this day of the oath ever since he was a small child in the orphanage, but never had he imagined that it was true that he would end up quite in love with his master, even if it was only day two.
What he thought was his imagination of his heart melting soon made itself noticed as Leon abruptly bent at the waist downwards clutching his left breast area. Cloud was confused to what Leon was doing. When Leon's body bent in half he dragged their intertwined hands down onto the mattress. It was when Leon let out a groan that he knew the brunet was in pain.
"Leon! Leon, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Cloud was panicking. He glanced at his hand and saw that the ring was still on, so it had nothing to do with shockwaves right?
"The o-oath is.. ugh.. is embedding itself into my heart," Leon managed to choke out through clenched teeth. When he tried to lift his body up, Cloud saw it. There above the area of his heart was a glowing blue rune with symbols, and even though Leon's hand was covering most of the rune in pain, the bright hue of the light was a bit blinding to the eye.
Cloud felt the worst feeling in the world; helplessness. There wasn't anything he could do to ease the other's pain as he watched Leon's face contort in pain while the rune slowly disappeared into his heart. Within a few moments, the light was gone and the rune completely disappeared into Leon's body, but left the brunet gasping for air.
"Shit.. Didn't see that one coming," Leon said as he refilled his lungs with much needed air, and Cloud let out the breath he was holding in all this time.
"Are you hurt Leon? Do you still feel the pain? I'll go get you some water." Cloud made to move away and let go of Leon's hand, but Leon's grip just held on tighter.
"No, Cloud. I'm fine, stay here. I just need to catch my breath," Leon said as he appeared to be breathing a bit easier now, and within a few moments he seemed completely fine as if nothing had just happened. "I told you these things were magically bound," he said with a smirk.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Cloud asked, still a little surprised.
"Yeah, but no one warmed me about the pain. Any more questions?"
"Just one."
"Shoot."
"Can I kiss you now?" the blonde asked, knowing it wasn't totally appropriate seeing their serious situation.
The question caught Leon off guard, and he just let out a loud chuckle and answered him by leaning placing the hand that wasn't holding Cloud's onto the side of the blonde's face and leaning in. Cloud placed his free hand softly against Leon's naked chest and met him half way to connect their lips. The kiss was slow, but super sweet from Leon's part as he stroked Cloud's cheek with a finger, and the way Leon exhaled slowly through his nose tickled Cloud's face. Leon drew back after a few more moments, their lips giving off a light smack noise.
"That's all you're getting for now," Leon said, smirking as he saw the pink hue on Cloud's face. In the following moments, Leon stared very intently at Cloud's chest and he even squinted a bit to see if what he was seeing was real. He practically pounced onto the blonde and pinned him against his mattress as he shoved Cloud's shirt up to his chin.
The way Leon's hands touched his chest, Cloud's skin was way too sensitive for this.
"Leon! What are you doing? This is way too soon! We've just had our first kiss!" Cloud was squirming under the brunette's touch, trying to fight back as he tried to pull his shirt back down.
"Shh Cloud, look!" Leon was ecstatic about what he saw, but right now he needed to calm Cloud down if he wanted to share his happiness.
"Wha?" The blonde stopped squirming and fighting back and just looked up at Leon, confused.
"Look!"
He looked down towards his chest. Over the area of his heart was the same intricate circular rune that was glowing above Leon's heart just minutes ago, except his didn't glow, or disappear, instead it looked like a very permanent tattoo.
"How come I didn't feel any pain?" Cloud asked, touching his fingers slightly onto the rune. "It's not disappearing."
"It wasn't designed for you to feel the pain, it's not embedded into your heart like mine, that's why it's not disappearing because it's only temporary. It will disappear if you were to take off that ring. It happens when our bond gets strengthened, but I didn't expect it so soon." Leon sat back up straddling Cloud's hips, admiring the way Cloud looked laying down on the mattress with his shirt bundled up under his arms, drinking up the image of his toned abs.
Cloud frantically pulled his shirt down and pushed Leon away as he sat back up and was too busy straightening out his shirt that he didn't notice Leon was playing with his phone on his side of the bed.
"You have a cute butt by the way," Leon said as he stared at his phone's screensaver. A second later a 'poof' could be heard, and Leon looked up from his phone, "What was that?" He was confused since the noise sounded like it came from Cloud and he saw the blonde clutching his head, as if trying to hide something. "Something wrong, Cloud? Does your head hurt?" He approached the blonde a bit, but the other scooted away.
"Don't say stuff like that!" A blush was apparent on his face and the tips of his ears.
"What are you hiding? What's on your head?" Leon asked in mild concern, he saw something moving behind Cloud's body, flicking back and forth. "Is that a tail?"
Cloud was obviously not thinking straight as he let go of his head to clutch behind to hide the tail, but it was too late to correct himself as Leon openly stared.
"Are those cat ears?" They were indeed cat ears and the way they twitched to the sound of his voice indicated that they were also very real. The color of the fur was the same as Cloud's blonde head but with light orange stripes running horizontally like the pattern on a tabby cat.
"Don't look!" Cloud was trying to hide as he threw the edge of the blanket over himself to hide his ears and tail.
Leon was very calm, just a little shocked at how cute Cloud was with the animalistic traits. "Why do you have them? And they've just appeared because..?"
"A certain black mage thought it'd be funny to cast a spell on me. They only appear when I get embarrassed or someone scares the stardust out of my ass. They'll go away after I've calmed down a bit."
Leon didn't ask permission as he slowly, very slowly in fact, pulled the blanket off of Cloud's head. Cloud was currently looking down at the mattress and just picking at the bed sheets, his blush seemed a few shades lighter than it was a minute ago.
"Can I touch them?"
"…"
Leon had hesitantly reached out and put his hand into Cloud's hair, slowly sliding his hand up to his cat ears. His ears were had softer fur than any real cat, and the moment the brunette started scratching those ears, Cloud stopped picking at the bed sheet and closed his eyes. The more Leon scratched, the more Cloud leaned into his touch and he started to unconsciously crawl towards him until he was completely in Leon's lap, body pressed firmly against the brunette's with his legs on both sides of Leon's hips. The shirtless butler was enjoying this more than Cloud was, watching his face show a look of bliss, and with only the thin material of Cloud's shirt separating their chests, he could feel vibrations coming off from his chest. The blonde was purring and had his arms wrapped loosely around Leon's shoulders, leaning his head at the base of Leon's neck. The young master was absentmindedly licking at Leon' neck, which sent shivers all down his back.
The neglected tail caught Leon's attention as it brushed against Leon's elbow. The hand that was scratching Cloud's ears had moved to softly catch the tail in midair, the fur as soft as Cloud's ears and matching striped patterns. Leon started stroking his tail, and Cloud let out a moan he was trying to hold back. Leon continued to stroke his tail for a few more minutes while Cloud continued to lap his tongue at the brunette's jawline. Cloud's hips suddenly jerked forward when Leon scratched a sensitive spot near the base of his tail, where his cat tail met his human skin.
"Oh gods Leon, that feels so erotic. Don't stop," Cloud moaned out.
Leon only scratched a few seconds more before stopping. He didn't want things to escalate because it was too soon in their relationship.
"Why'd you stop?"
"Because I still owe you for the bellyflop, this morning, and your butt tattoo, right? Name it, how can I make it up to you?" Leon motioned for Cloud to move off of him as he put on his shirt that he picked out earlier.
Cloud laid down on the bed with his eyes shut, concentrating on Leon's soothing voice so that he could clam down and have his ears and tail go away. After a few moments of concentrating, he willed cat traits away and felt them disappear after his breathing calmed down and he answered Leon, "Show me something I haven't seen before."
After a few moments of silence, Leon figured it out and sat on the edge of the bed again while he looked down at Cloud whose eyes were still shut. "Have you ever been to the supermarket?"
"No"
"Cloud, people don't bring oversized butcher knives to the supermarket, put your sword back down."
The blonde was halfway out the doorway that led to the outside.
"But Leon!"
"Leave it. I have my gunblade if anything happens. We'll be back by dinner anyway."
First Leon didn't let him take Fenrir to the supermarket because apparently it wasn't capable of holding groceries and they had to take Leon's new car. Second, Leon didn't let him drive because it was 'the butler's job.' And now, Leon didn't let him bring his sword.
Leon was unfair.
Wide curious blue eyes scanned its surroundings. There was so much pretty colorful fruit laid out before him and aisles and aisles of snacks, although Cloud Strife was not much of a snacker.
"Woah!" Cloud spotted something and ran in a direction away from Leon as he started his supermarket adventure.
"I'll be here in the produce," Leon called after him.
Leon got stuck pushing the shopping cart, but he didn't mind, it was part of his job. He picked out the fruit and vegetables needed at home and after a few minutes, he turned around to be faced with an oversized stuffed baby chocobo.
"I didn't know supermarkets had stuffed animals. I'm getting his for Sora," Cloud said as he dropped the doll into the cart. "What's that?" he said, pointing to something in the cart.
"That's taro," Leon said. He continued to push the cart through the aisle.
"That's supposed to be food? That looks like glorified shit."
Some people were openly staring at the two hot men at the supermarket, while some others were glaring at the blonde for his language and covering their children's ears.
It was expected that Cloud would disappear again off on his own, and he did, but he didn't return alone this time.
"Leon, look what I found." Cloud was standing next to a little blonde girl with long pigtails and bright green eyes. She was only about half of Cloud's height and was holding onto his hand and was in a fit of giggles.
"Cloud, you're not supposed to kidnap other people's kids."
"No Leon, this is the little brat that cast that spell on me. She's my cousin, Rose." He turned to look down at the little girl and asked, "Rose, where's your guardian?"
A second later, a deep voice could be heard not that far away in a normal tone, "Rose? Where are you?"
The little girl Rose looked like he immediately recognized the voice as she called back, "Vin?" in a small angelic voice.
Seconds later, Vincent Valentine appeared at the end of the aisle and Rose rushed into his open arms.
"Don't run off like that again, okay? Stay close to me." He looked up and greeted, "Hello Cloud. Hey Leon, long time no see."
A/N: This felt like a really long chapter to write _ Only because it took a long time to get into words what I wanted! Originally I had planned on pairing Vincent with Yuffie, but the thought of seeing Vincent take care of a precious baby girl just makes me smile. You will learn about their story and a little background on Rose in the next chapter.
I didn't take the time to reread this.. I'm really tired so forgive me if there are a lot of errors.
Please, don't forget to R&R!