A/N: In response to a prompt from my ask box over on tumblr. Thanks, Anon.

A Life Without

Cloud didn't recognise the man sat at their kitchen table, but with a strange sense of familiarity he bore a remarkable resemblance to the gunblader sat opposite him.

Cloud put First Tsurugi down in the corner by the door and gave them both a weary stare.

"Who's this?" he asked, raising his chin, his tone a little more chilly than it needed to be.

The stranger smiled at him and raised a hand in an awkward, goofy greeting, his bright features slipping in uncertainty as Cloud only stared back.

Leon stood up, the sound of his chair scraping the floor making the stranger jump a little, pulling Cloud's attention away.

"This is Laguna," Leon explained, straight forward as ever, "My father."

Cloud's eyes widened slightly and he raised one golden eyebrow, the only outward sign that he was secretly surprised by the brunet's words, and he fixed Leon with a blank stare.

"Your father?" he asked, parroting his lover tonelessly.

"It's nice to meet you, Cloud. Can't say I've heard much about you, but it seems there's a lot I've got to catch up on," Laguna said, standing up from his chair and extending his hand across the table in an offer of greeting.

Cloud looked at it like it was something foreign and did not reach out to take it.

"You didn't tell me you had a father?" he said instead, ignoring Laguna in favour of turning an accusatory gaze on Leon. The brunet's normal frown deepened into a scowl and he slowly lifted his arms and crossed then in front of him.

"You never asked," he replied bluntly, a few seconds of charged silence passing between them as Laguna let his hand fall uselessly beside him. His eyes darted backwards and forwards between the two young men and he shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. They seemed to be communicating silently between themselves and Laguna was unnerved by the voiceless argument happening in front of him.

"I need to take a shower," Cloud finally snapped, leaving abruptly and stomping up the stairs.

Leon caught up with him in their bedroom a short while later; Cloud was stood by the bed with a towel wrapped around his waist, scrubbing at his damp hair.

"Wanna tell me what that was all about?" Leon asked tersely from the doorway.

"What d'you mean?" Cloud threw over his shoulder, as if he had only just realised his lover was standing there.

"Don't play dumb with me, Cloud. What the hell's wrong with you?"

The warrior was quiet for a while as he busied himself pointlessly folding his dirty clothes.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd you just forgot to mention your father was still alive?"

"I didn't know," Leon snapped, already tired of this conversation, "he just showed up."

"Ever thought to mention that you had a father at all?" Cloud countered, snapping his T-shirt in front of him as he shook out the creases.

"Why would I? Everyone has a father, Cloud, even you."

Leon could see the way Cloud's shoulders tensed, the muscles in his back snapping taught as he straightened and threw down his dirty clothes.

"I never knew my father, remember?" Cloud ground out over his shoulder, refusing to look at Leon, "At least I told you about him."

Leon's eyes narrowed and his fists balled at his sides. He was about to reply with his own cutting and sarcastic comment when a sudden thought occurred to him. He didn't know why, but he considered the possibility that Cloud was jealous, and it cooled his anger almost immediately.

He stepped into the room, well aware of the heat coming from his lover and the potential argument that could come if he handled this badly. But Leon was rarely fazed by Cloud's moods and now was no different. He put his hand on Cloud's shoulder, turning him with some effort to face him, and he looked down at the younger man with a concerned gaze.

"I thought you said you didn't care?"

Cloud blinked up at him, his own anger fizzling out to confusion at Leon's sudden change in tactics.

"You said you'd never known him; that you didn't need to. It was just you and your mom and that's all you needed, remember?" Leon watched Cloud's jaw as it bit down, working silently as he recalled the conversation he and Leon had had late one night, right at the beginning of their secret affair.

"She's dead, Leon."

"Mine too," Leon reminded him.

Cloud's gaze flicked up and met Leon's; petulant defiance swimming in his vulnerable eyes.

"Don't resent me for the one parent I have left," Leon spoke as softly as he could, "I've only just got him back."

Cloud looked away and shook his head, small droplets of water dripping onto his bare shoulders with the action.

"I don't... I'm not..." he stuttered, attempting to deny Leon's accusation. But he found that there was more than a small kernel of truth to them. It wasn't like him to be so churlish and he felt humility steal over him almost as quickly as his childish anger.

"I'm sorry," he admitted but couldn't quite bring himself to look Leon in the eye, "I didn't mean..."

Leon could see the warring emotions and took pity on his lover. It wasn't hard to do, considering. "You know, if you just gave him a chance you might actually like him."

Cloud peeked up at Leon through a damp bang with a raised eyebrow.

"Is he anything like you?"

Leon snorted and the corner of his lips lifted in a small amused smile. "No. Actually, I don't take after him much at all."

Cloud nodded his head as if in thought. "Then yeah, I'll probably like him just fine."

Leon was quick to deliver a soft punch to his lover's shoulder, sending Cloud off balance slightly. He followed it with a kiss, smooth and feather-light, with a hand on Cloud's jaw to tilt his head at just the right angle. He pulled away and his usual taciturn features were gentle and soft.

"Asshole," he mumbled as he shook his head and left Cloud to finish dressing.