A/N: I'm really sorry this took so long. I sort of went on a forced hiatus because schoolwork at the university I'm in at the moment (I'm in the US! HA HA!) just took me by surprise. Actually, I was having a huge case of prolonged cultural shock. Hopefully now that I'm in the swing of things I should be able to update a little more frequently (but I can't make promises).

For those of you who read Arashi no Rakuen: sorry, I'm going to take a little longer than planned. I will try to update it when I can, but at the moment Ever After will have to take priority. I want to finish it within the year.

Thank you for your patience and love. I am not worthy of such due diligence and loyalty *cries*. Or your praise *cry some more*. Please enjoy this chapter, and review :) Reviews are my chocolate chip cookies :D

It had taken a lot to get Cloud to the state he was in now, but after much coaxing and reassurance from his SeeD partner, he was finally sedated into a deep slumber in the long, coffin-like pod with a circlet of silver around his head, two wires attached to the head of the pod where it would be linked to the machine was connected to it. Another pod laid in wait for Leon, but he stayed a little longer, looking at Cloud through the glass pane. He pressed a hand over it, as if trying to touch the Fenrir through the glass.

"It'll be over soon," Leon murmured. "I promise…"

He knew the risks; the reason why Dr. Farron had wanted him to be a part of the Paladin Project was because Leon had previous experience with a Sorceress that had powers over the brain and mind capacities. Linking two mindsets with that power would make it easier to do without having to resort to using a second Sorcerer-power to help along the process. Even so, the risk was that he might end up draining Cloud instead of everything, until only an empty shell was left. He himself had a chance of going mad or dying from having to cope with another person's memories and brain patterns in his head.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared. Seeing Cloud lying there lifeless made him realise how close that both of them could be close to meeting their deaths every time they stepped into a dangerous situation. This was for the good of the country… he kept telling himself that. He had to make himself useful if he couldn't be a part of SeeD anymore.

"Ready?" Dr. Farron asked from her spot at the machine's controls. Leon hesitated… then nodded his head in affirmative. "Alright, just lie down in the pod and we'll hook you up. We need you to stay calm throughout the whole procedure. Just think of this as a chance to get some extra sleep."

"You make it sound like we'll be awake for days after this," Leon muttered as he clambered into the pod.

"That actually might not be too far off the truth," Dr. Farron replied as she proceed to attach him to the machine. "We're not certain, but we can assume that the first couple of days of being completely mentally connected in this way might take a while for both of you to get used to. You may learn things about each other you may not wish to know." Leon somehow gathered that, knowing this, he was going to see Cloud's bouts of heat a mile off now. Maybe he should invest in locks for the doors… "Might drive you a little crazy suddenly knowing everything about each other, but with time you'll probably learn to control the connection."

"This isn't exactly filling me with confidence," Leon grimaced.

"Please don't worry. We will pull the plug on the project if things get too dangerous for either party." Her smile seemed to be trying to comfort him, but he didn't find much in it.

He guessed right now he just wanted to see familiar faces supporting his choice. He was already beginning to miss his tongue-in-cheek arguments with Axel, his talks with Aerith and Zexion, his scolding of Zell and Selphie for encroaching on other's privacy while their SOLDIERs either shook their heads or scratched them with unease, working with Quistis dealing with his squad of cadets and newly made 3rd classes, and he was even starting to miss the squad that he had been so careful to educate and train, even lead in small missions. He wondered if any of them missed him. He figured not; Axel had said that they called him a devil since he was so strict with them.

He wondered if Cloud had these same thoughts. He had a feeling he'd find out soon. The glass of the pod's top covered him, and he heard the sound of a gas being sprayed inside. Sleeping gas. "Ok Captain. Just relax and let yourself fall asleep. I need your mind to be completely off guard to make the connection a success."

Leon was already half way there; the gas helped him along.

Cloud? Is that you?

Squall?

It is you! It's so good to actually spe- oof!

You bastard! You absolutely impossible bastard! Why on earth did you not announce yourself earlier?-!

Hyne, I forgot how much like a fishwife you sound…

You were the one that left me!

I didn't leave you! I saved you from completely disappearing!

What on earth is that supposed to mean?-!

Cloud, how long do you think it's been since you last reincarnated?

Couldn't be any more than a hundred years, right?

It's been over five hundred years since you last reincarnated. The Strife bloodline completely died with Soleil.

…You're lying.

I'm not. I was with you when I reincarnated as Zephyr. I had to watch Soleil die from grief when her family was completely slaughtered. And there was not a damn thing I could do to save you!

…That's a lie…it must…

Cloud, why do you think you're in the wrong host body? You were going to fade away into nothing. I couldn't let that happen. So I… I gave you the body that was meant to be for me.

But why would you do such a thing?-!

…Because I don't want to be alone in this world either.

A picture came into view slowly, and for a moment Leon thought he had finally come around. Warmth. It was a strange kind of warmth; comforting but very foreign. He saw Hojo's hunched form, and for a moment believed in only the worst until he noticed something. It didn't seem possible to him but Hojo appeared to be younger, less grey, and standing a little straighter than Leon had become familiar with. He wondered for a moment if this was a dream.

Hojo was standing in front of a tube container, filled to the gunnels with Mako. There was something inside floating, all manner of chords and metal bands surrounding the small form. Leon could not make out what or who the small form was inside. He then saw a younger Dr. Farron come into view, her hair a brighter strawberry blond and her blue eyes filled with youthful energy. "Professor, the subject's familiarity with Mako has increased successfully. Its signs are completely stable. Shall we proceed removing the specimen from the container?"

"Might as well not push our Fenrir male past its limitations just yet," Hojo said dismissively. Leon started; Fenrir?-! Then that meant…! "After all, Fenrir v.1 will be the start of an incredible bio-weapon. Always need to be careful with them this early into production."

"Of course," Dr. Farron replied, going over to some machinery that controlled the container, fiddling with it to drain the Mako out. As the Mako decreased, the naked and bound form of what looked to be a five year-old child listlessly sunk to the bottom of the container, lifelessly flopping around blindly. Leon felt his heart break; that was Cloud. The container opened, and all the metallic bindings popped off the young Fenrir one at a time. Hojo approached the infantile SOLDIER.

"Take Fenrir v.1 back to its holding area. We're done with it for the day." Hojo smirked coldly at his pet project, looking at those lifeless Mako-flecked blue eyes open up, looking completely soulless. They were not the eyes of a child. Those were the eyes of a person that was just about ready to give up on hope. Hojo turned to walk away.

"Will you not be continuing experimentation today?" Dr. Farron asked.

"I have more pressing things to deal with President Shinra," Hojo informed. "My pet project will have to wait for another day." He left, the automatic door sliding satisfyingly shut. Dr. Farron suddenly moved quickly, helping the young Fenrir to stand. She smiled kindly at the five year-old.

"How're you feeling Fenny?" she asked gently to him, using a pet-name in replacement of his official one. The boy just looked at her indolently. "Ah, yes. Stupid question." She held onto his hands and took a step back, encouraging him to take a first wobbly step. "That's it. Careful. Don't want to have an accident."

"…Hungry," the young Fenrir whimpered. It shocked Leon to hear Cloud speaking at this early an age, having convinced himself that Cloud had been mute for most of his early life against his own will. Dr. Farron nodded her head in understanding.

"I know." She steadied him as he teetered a little to the left. "Just try to regain your balance and we'll get you something to eat."

Leon only now could see that the poor young SOLDIER's body was almost emaciated, tiny bones poking out of a canvas of pale, sun-virgin skin stretched thinly across the gawky form. He could see the pity in Dr. Farron's eyes. He could see the determination that Cloud showed in trying to regain himself all so that he would be able to eat at long last. He could now understand why Cloud had latched himself so tightly to him, and why the Fenrir ate so ravenously at all three meals, and why Cloud… had just wanted a human connection so badly. Because even though Dr. Farron was helping him here, there seemed to be a distance put between them; Cloud didn't even have a true name other than Fenrir to her. The five year-old Cloud's steps finally steadied. "Hungry," he said again, more pitifully than the last.

The scientist nodded. "Alright." She took her white lab coat off and wrapped it around the little Fenrir's thin body, it completely drawing out just how small he was. "Come on then." She began to walk; neither held hands again.

As the process in reality went on, Leon was taken through memories that Cloud would never speak of in person, feeling like he was intruding on truths that would always be withheld for as long as the Fenrir would live. Memories of being beaten in a bid to 'toughen him up', of long drawn out sessions bound and floating in a Mako container, of kind but distanced exchanges with Dr. Farron who truly did her best to provide something nice for the growing Fenrir. He saw Cloud's first authorised killing: an old and creaking Ramuh model that had outgrown his use in the military. He could see that the Fenrir had closed himself off, appearing to kill in cold blood but faltering as he saw a smile that the Fenrir had figured should never have been on the old Ramuh's face in his mind. He saw Dr. Farron explaining to Cloud with a quiet but strained emotion that the Ramuh had been prepared to die; there would be many others that would be prepared to lay their lives on the line to protect their country he would have to face and that he would have to mentally prepare himself to kill without question. That was the ultimate function of any person within the military: kill first, never question your superior. He watched as Cloud grew up into a quiet, believed mute individual, and finally… he watched Cloud's point of view of the day they first met.

Leon now understood why Cloud was so grateful, so protective and so affectionate towards him. He had given Cloud things that no one could put a price on. A name, an identity, a strong sense of purpose, and hope that even a creature like him could ever be treated like a human. And Cloud would fight tooth and claw to keep these.

He wondered if Cloud had seen his memories; seen the kid that he was, the person that he had been, and the person he had become. Would Cloud accept any of it? He'd have to find out when they came back to reality.

"Leon…? Leon?" His eyes felt heavy as they tried to open in response to the voice calling to him. "Leon? Are you alright?"

The shape was blurry, but he could make out blond hair. Seifer? No… it wasn't as short as his. This was longer, spikier hair. The voice was different too. Soft-spoken. Cloud? His vision sharpened; familiar blue eyes with Mako green flecks. Boyish looking face. Yes. It was Cloud.

"Where… am I?" Leon asked quietly.

"Back home," Cloud replied, carefully helping the brunet to sit up. "That bonding process was a success, but you wouldn't wake up. Dr. Farron allowed us to come home when she was happy you weren't in immediate danger."

"…so you and I…?"

Cloud nodded. "You have no idea how careful I've had to be for the past twenty-four hours. Even a bump to the head was going to cause you to wake up." Leon was just looking at Cloud as the SOLDIER droned about the process, about how the next couple of weeks the process meant that they both going to be unusually sensitive to anything that might cause their pain receptors to react at the same time, and that they was a chance that they might start having moments of total synchronicity when they weren't even aware of it. Cloud seemed to be very calm… but did he know that his SeeD partner knew everything about his past? Did Cloud know everything about his now? Was he just trying to hide it?

"Cloud…" Leon started. "I know."

"Oh? Well, alright then. Let's just take it easy for a couple of days. Besides, we can't go back to the Garden anymore now. We're property of-"

"Cloud," Leon interrupted. "I know about your life in that place." He watched as Cloud's body stiffened, and the lump of his neck move uncomfortably as if he were swallowing down something. "You know about… my childhood with Edea now, don't you?"

"…yeah," Cloud nodded his head. "I know you and Seifer grew up together at that place."

"And that he left to become a SOLDIER."

"And that you wanted to follow, only you would go to SeeD." Cloud looked down. "I saw everything. How you reunited with Seifer. How you got that scar on your face. How… How you guys got together. Even how Seifer… how he…"

"Supposedly died," Leon finished for him. "Shocking, huh?"

"He sacrificed himself… to save you…"

"Yeah."

"Was that memory suppressed?"

"No. I remembered him throwing me off the boat. I didn't remember the moment between us hiding and him throwing me off though." Leon sighed. "I started remembering it a little after Sorceress Naminé tinkered a bit with me back when I was having those episodes." He then looked up. "The same episodes you have from time to time."

"Huh? Me?"

"Back in Agrabah. You were knocked out by Jafar trying to save me. And then all of a sudden you started acting like a completely different person." He sighed. "Cloud… do you get… memories? Memories that you know aren't yours, but they still feel familiar?"

"…mostly dreams," Cloud murmured. "It's fuzzy… but after they stopped… I just kept hearing this voice in my head from time to time." He looked away from Leon.

"Why didn't you say something about it?"

"No one's going to believe a SOLDIER. They'll just think there's a mistake in the genetic coding and try to fix it." The Fenrir sighed softly. "I didn't… I didn't want to ever have a reason to go back to Shinra."

"What's this voice like?" Leon asked. He wondered if it was different. The voice in his head was stubborn, impetuous, easily angered but in some ways protective. Was it any different for Cloud?

"…calm. Eerily calm," Cloud murmured. "Sometimes he just takes over when I'm tired or knocked out… and I'll have little memory of what happened." Leon noticed Cloud's hands were fumbling against each other. "He's much more calculated. He's like… I dunno, like a military genius maybe?"

A military genius… yes, that might describe those times when Cloud had suddenly become tactical rather than rush into danger like he usually did. Calm and trying to get into control of the situation. A born leader. "Sounds like he's a blessing in disguise."

"Do you like him better?" Cloud asked tentatively.

Leon shook his head. "Nothing like that. It's just good to know we've got a back-up if something goes tits up." He noticed that Cloud seemed to slump a little at that. "I'm not saying you're unreliable."

"Feels like it…" Leon could detect something wrong in Cloud's voice, though he couldn't put it down.

"Cloud… please. I'm just trying to be objective here."

"We're connected in a way that could only be described as psychically and all you can do is be objective about my apparent madness!" Leon yelped in shock as Cloud suddenly tackled him against the bed, his Mako-infused eyes staring at him. He felt so small under the SOLDIER, maybe the most vulnerable he had ever been. More so than all the times he felt vulnerable in the past, because this time there was no way he could actually lift a weapon at Cloud. He felt the blond's breath fan against his lips and his own cheeks burn in the darkness. "No more Leon… No more thinking. No more trying to make sense of things. Just look at me… and us."

It didn't take a genius to notice that the atmosphere had changed between them. Everything was about to change, and even Leon could sense it. Being the dimwit he was when it come to anything social though, he had no idea what to do. "Cloud…" It felt too dangerous to risk saying anything. The Fenrir was so close to him now, and it was clear that he had no intention of going.

"Just look at me," Cloud murmured again, much more quietly this time, but no less powerful. It was enough to make the brunet grow a little weak. Despite himself, Leon's arms were shakily wrapping themselves around Cloud's back. He knew what this meant: full acceptance of the other.

"…I'm afraid," Leon whispered softly. He'd never admit it to anyone else, but this whole Griever and Paladin business had him running scared. He felt Cloud's arms encase him tightly, protectively.

"I won't let them touch you." Cloud's face was buried in Leon's neck. "I won't let you come to harm in any way."

"Don't… say that." Leon already had that promise made; that cost him Seifer. He felt Cloud's face move away to look at him again but felt a brush of lips against his own. Leon froze; Cloud had either miscalculated the distance between their faces or… he had done it deliberately.

"I mean it," Cloud murmured. This time he pressed his lips a little firmer against Leon's, and the brunet felt any power he may have had just fade away. He was sick of fighting, and the prospect of closeness with someone else was just too comforting to him at this moment. His hands clung to the fabric of Cloud's clothes as he hesitantly opened his mouth in response to the light tug to his bottom lip from Cloud's teeth. The Fenrir's tongue slid in carefully, brushing against the SeeD's as he explored the new area given to him.

Not for the first time either, Leon had remembered, but that first time Cloud wasn't even himself. It was when he felt the bite on his tongue that he suddenly retracted. "What the hell?"

"Eh? That wasn't good?" Cloud pulled away, his eyes alight in confusion; Leon could only see that because the Mako in the blond's system was causing his eyes to glow. He was excited.

"I don't like being bitten. Period." Leon frowned. Just where had he gotten this idea that biting made anyone excited?

"Oh..." Cloud deflated. "So that show was wrong about that..."

"...I'm almost afraid to ask but... what show?"

"Something on a channel called 'Playmoogles'. I think the show was called 'Virgin Flight'." There was a long pause shared between them in the growing darkness, the last fading rays of sunlight being intercepted by the city skyscrapers. Playmoogles... Playmoogles... Leon's body began to shake. Cloud looked at him in worry. "That was something I wasn't meant to watch then?"

"...You...dumb..." He couldn't hold it in, suddenly turning on his side and breaking into laughter. No wonder Cloud had suddenly become a little more bold! He must have watched that porn channel thinking it was an educational film!

"Wh-What? What's so funny?" Cloud asked, sounding highly confused by the SeeD's laughter.

"Cloud, what you watched is what people call 'porn'!" Leon gasped, holding his sides as he turned onto his back. "It's just a highly unrealistic portrayal of sex!"

"Un...real..." Cloud blinked, taken aback by this newfound knowledge. "Wait! Then-!" Cloud's hand was sudden on the button, zip and hem of Leon's trousers.

"Hey!" Before he even knew what was going on, Leon felt his trousers being pulled down swiftly, his hands suddenly going down to cover his own modesty. "What the hell are you-!" Cloud's hand now had moved his away; Leon looked away in shame, yelling indignant curses at him as he felt the Mako-infused eyes inspect his... well, it wasn't something he was happy about.

"Wow... so all men don't have large penile equipment," Cloud breathed.

"Will you stop looking at it!" Leon exclaimed, trying to wriggle away. He was embarrassed; he could feel his cheeks burn.

"Is this why you would wait until after curfew to shower when you were a cadet?" Cloud asked, clearly forgetting himself. Leon's fist suddenly connected with Cloud's chest.

"Don't bring that up!"

"Is it supposed to be embarrassing?" Cloud asked innocently. "Humans are weird..."

"Cloud please..." Leon whined, trying to hide himself again. He heard the light being turned on, and felt Cloud's eyes on him. "Stop looking."

"I don't get it," Cloud mumbled, moving away. Leon released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding, and made movements to pull his pants back up but he was stunned when he saw what Cloud was doing. The shirt that Cloud had been wearing had been tossed onto the floor, and he was now working on his trousers and pants.

"What are you doing?-!"

"Trying to understand the differences between human bodies," Cloud replied, finally getting rid of the clothing and just standing there completely in the nude. Leon wanted to pull his eyes away from the sight, but he couldn't help but look.

On Cloud's left shoulder, there was the scarring left from taking a fireball in Agrabah. On his right side, there was a large bite mark, a memento from that fight with Ursula's eel creatures on Destiny Island. There were marks from where tubes of Mako had been fed into Cloud's body, and wounds from gunshots and melee weapons from missions past. But what had Leon's attention the most was the Fenrir mark in the middle of his chest; the black tattoo of a wolf's head. Cloud tilted his head to the side. "What is it?"

"...nothing," Leon murmured, looking away. Although he had seen Cloud in the nude before, he hadn't actually looked at him, or noticed any of the markings on his skin. Now that he had seen, it was hard to take it out of his mind. All those marks had lead up to this point. All of those scars were a show that he was alive and surviving. He looked back when he felt Cloud's weight cause the bed to sink. "What?"

"You too," Cloud said, reaching for Leon's shirt and pulling it up. Leon stayed still and let him, not afraid but very wary of what would happen next. As skin was revealed inch by inch, and his shirt was pulled over his head, he waited in embarrassment as Cloud's eyes scoured every millimetre of his flesh. "...may I touch?" Cloud asked after painful moments of silence.

"...I'll hit you if you go too far," Leon muttered, but he sounded a little weaker than usual. Then he felt a large finger run down on a scar on his shoulder. GSW from a practice mission when he was a fifteen year-old cadet. They were fighting in a hologram mission used to train SOLDIERs, but one cadet had gotten a bit overzealous with his shooting. Leon took the hit protecting Aerith as she had been in the bullet's path. Fortunately it was a blank, but it was enough to leave a mark.

Now Cloud's fingers stroked a gash made by an Archadian military issue sword. Received in a clash overseas, when Radiant Garden had been tipped off of a possible Archadian spy mission. Leon had only recently been promoted to 2nd class, and the mission itself was supposed to be relatively less dangerous than most missions due to heavy odds on their side. He had been careless that time.

A dagger stab whilst on guard duty; a gash made from not being quick enough while sparring with Axel; scar tissue from bullets and blades from missions past; a surgical scar from the aftermath of that very first mission with Cloud; calluses on his hand from continued use of the gunblade, and one burn from gunshot residue when he had fired a pistol that had been incorrectly loaded. But the one scar that he would never rid himself of was the one across his nose. That was the very last scar Cloud touched.

"You know," Cloud started tentatively, "all these scars are..."

"Ugly? Marring? Disgusting?" Leon suggested.

"No," Cloud replied. "Beautiful."

Leon snorted, pushing Cloud's hand away. "Now I know you're just making it up."

"I mean it Leon." Cloud seemed to smile in the darkness. "Every scar does seem to be beautiful in their own way."

"And what makes you believe that?" He didn't believe the SOLDIER. Not one word.

"Because each one meant you had a reason to keep fighting for. Even after you thought... Seifer died."

Leon turned on his side again. "What on earth are you saying..."

"Well... I don't think I'd have the courage to keep on going after someone I... care about was killed," Cloud mumbled; Leon knew Cloud had replaced the word 'love' with 'care'. "But you did."

"My memory was erased. It turns out that I was suicidal when Seifer 'died'." The memories were still fuzzy, but now he knew where those cuts on his wrists were from at long last.

"Even so... even if you forgot that Seifer was your lover, you still cared about him like a friend. A partner even. And he sacrificed himself to save you. You kept on going even after that."

"I had my responsibilities to think about," Leon muttered.

"Responsibilities wouldn't stop a person from completely giving up," Cloud pointed out, slowly crawling over Leon's body. "You had a reason to keep on going... and I ultimately think that you saved yourself because of that." He lowered; Leon shuddered as he felt warm skin against skin. "You're brave. Braver than I am."

"...I'm not brave," Leon murmured. "You're the one that's always going headfirst into danger just to protect me."

"Because I'm scared of losing you," Cloud murmured. "And I bet... Seifer was scared of losing you as well."

Leon froze at that; he never really gave much thought as to why Seifer would sacrifice himself so that Leon could escape, having always believed that it was just a case of Seifer figuring out the probabilities of survival. Leon had the better chance, plus he was a SeeD; SOLDIERs were easy to create and train, but a SeeD was a human being without genetic manipulation. They were harder to train. Seifer also had more wounds; by most standards, Leon had gotten off fairly lightly. With the knowledge of his previous relationship to Seifer now very clear in his head again, Leon had finally realised that there might have been more to it than just statistics.

Seifer may now want to kill him, but once upon a time, that Crusader model had strong feelings towards Leon. If he knew him as well as he did, Leon knew Seifer was the type to act upon his emotions and feelings. This was the man that had rushed into an abandoned warehouse reported to have Archadian soldiers inside just because he was angry at the sheer gall these soldiers had at trying to take over towns near to Hollow Bastion. And come out of it alive after thoroughly wrecking the SeeD strategy the mission leader had come up with. "...then what does that make me? I'd call myself a cold-hearted bastard for that."

"Brave," Cloud answered, suddenly licking his cheek. Leon jumped at feeling the warm, wet muscle against his flesh. His skin almost went flying off when he felt a hand slide down his chest, down his abdomen and stomach, and rest delicately on the flesh where the hair was growing a little thicker. He should have hit him, but his body decided to play traitor and flush into warmth at Cloud's touch.

"Cloud... don't-" As he turned his head to face Cloud, he stopped himself as he noticed the look on the Fenrir's face. It was so much softer than the first time Cloud went too far, or the time he had been kissed by him while Cloud's body had been possessed. What's more, it was a look he recognised. It was the look that he had seen countless times on his own face when he saw photographs of him and Seifer as a couple for the first time in years. "...I can't," he murmured, knowing where this was going. Cloud's hand slid up to his cheek, cupping it gently while his thumb stroked the skin under it.

And yet another wall that had been built around Leon's heart fell, and he felt his heart start to speed up in his chest as his mind realised how close the other was and how heavy the atmosphere had become. Cloud leaned forward tentatively. "Sorry..." he whispered, "but I don't think I can hold back for much longer..."

Leon knew what he had meant. His mind was yelling at him to not get involved with a SOLDIER, but his body was craving for the contact. He could even feel his lower regions starting to swell and tighten in anticipation. "...I know we shouldn't...but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to stop myself... let alone you..."

He felt Cloud's lips rest on his again, and this time he knew he had been defeated. Maybe it was because he was in such a state of mind that fighting seemed useless, but the knowledge that someone in the world did want to give him the physical comfort he craved made his body hold up a white flag in surrender.

The endearing thing was just how very little Cloud actually knew of what he was supposed to do. It was somewhat of a little curse on the blond's part since the brunet was picking up on just what he was thinking and feeling thanks to the Paladin Project connecting their minds, but the SeeD didn't allow him to rush it. Rushing wasn't impressive. Even just a little touch to the shoulder seemed to calm down the SOLDIER.

-Okay... now turn me onto my back, Leon murmured in his mind. Upon cue, he felt his body's weight transfer itself into the new position, guided by Cloud's large hand. It was hard from the persistent use of that grossly large sword he carried around newly at all times. His thigh quivered under Cloud's palm. He watched as Cloud looked at him as a whole, his hand shakily reaching down to cup Leon's very slightly swollen cock. He seemed hesitant.

"It's alright," Leon said calmly. "You can touch."

"...you're going to hit me if I do," Cloud murmured, clearly very wary from past experience. Leon just sighed, took Cloud's hand and wrenched it down to touch the damn embarrassment of a manhood. He took little relish in seeing the Fenrir's face so red with mortification. "L-Leon!"

"Stop being such a girl and get on with it," Leon frowned. "I'm not going to break." Cloud's facial expression hadn't changed from its uncertainty. "I've done it with Seifer and Axel. I know for a fact that I can handle whatever piece of erectile equipment you've got." Maybe he was being a little demanding, but Leon did not want to be treated like some piece of glass. Regardless, it seemed to have pricked up Cloud's courage.

His hand was very slow and tentative at first when it came to stimulating Leon's cock, but as he got into a rhythm he watched in fascination as it swelled and engorged in his hand. More fascinating to the Fenrir was the quiet, almost inaudible panting coming from his SeeD partner, as well as the slight tinge of pink in his slightly tanned complexion. He had never seen Leon like this, and it seemed almost surreal to see that expression of subtle enjoyment upon his face. And Cloud... he actually really liked knowing that he could get such a reaction out of the usually stoic SeeD captain, though it pained him to think that there had been others that had been privy to this. He stopped himself when he realised that Leon's buttocks were convulsing for some reason, looking at it in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Was this normal?

"Cloud... for Hyne's sake put a finger in..." Leon breathed part demandingly, and part needing.

"P-Put it where?" Cloud stammered. All he could see was... oh Hyne... was that where he was supposed to put it?-!

"Where... do you think...?" Leon groaned. "I've only got one entrance... use it..."

Cloud just stared at it for a moment, watching as it puckered and convulse hungrily. Now it wasn't that he didn't know how to do such a thing; Hojo had planned to try and breed Cloud and one other Fenrir to see if he could get Fenrir pups out of them so that less genetic modification was needed, so he had seen his fair share of sex educational films. What was really throwing him off was that he only knew what to do concerning male-female copulation; male-male copulation had never been brought up since it would have been irrelevant to Hojo's breeding plans. Taking a deep breath –and partially out of fear of what a very impatient horny Leon could do to him if he kept him waiting– he sucked on one hardened digit of his hand for a few moments to slicken it up before hesitantly pressing at the puckering entrance. It was surprisingly easy to slide in, but it had elicited a small groan. Cloud couldn't tell if it was from discomfort or pleasure. "Are you... okay?" Cloud dared to ask.

"It's fine," Leon murmured, reassuring the other he was doing well. "You need to... nngh... get two more in..."

"...why two?"

"Should get me...ah... loose enough..." He panted heavily at this point, sucking in a breath as Cloud's finger stroked the velvety warmth of his inner walls. "Loose enough... to get yours in..."

Cloud hadn't realised that Leon had taken note of his rather impressive size. Cloud didn't even think his own manhood was that large anyway; he thought that all men generally had the same size of penis, and that his own had been standard. In went the second digit. Leon let out a blissful sigh as the third entered. For Cloud, it was unreal. Not to mention the equivalent to Pandora's Box of ancient Olympian legend to him, seeing Leon looking and sounding as lewd as he did.

The squelching coming from that hungry opening, the slickness encasing his large, swordsman's fingers, and the laboured, hushed pants coming from the brunet under him was only serving to excite all lupine instincts within his being. And they were salivating over the possibility of mating. He pulled his fingers away, impatient to just relieve himself of the painful swelling of his groin.

"Stop," Leon said suddenly, his eyes daring the Fenrir to even try to defy him. Cloud knew well enough that this was not a time to push his luck, even if fighting down the urge to just fuck the brunet senseless was proving to be more of a challenge then first expected.

"What?" he demanded impatiently.

"Condom."

"...What?"

"Condom," Leon repeated. "You are not letting that thing anywhere near me unless it has a condom on it."

"...you are joking, right?" Cloud asked incredulously.

"No. I'm quite serious," Leon panted, perching his upper body on his elbows and gesturing with his head that the condoms were in the bedside table. "In drawer. And it has to be on properly."

Cloud grumbled darkly under his breath, reaching over Leon to get the wretched condom, but he gasped and felt his back involuntarily arch as something brushed against his engorged cock. Leon was rubbing his knee teasingly against it. "Now, now, less grumbling. This is for our own safety."

"Wh-What's th-that s-supposed t-to m-mean?-!" Cloud yelped. He could already feel his insides churning at just the slightest rough rub from that knee.

"You're in essence a very horny Mako-induced man with the instincts of a wolf, about to ruin me in ways that will most likely affect my walking speed in the morning," Leon chuckled dryly. He was having too much fun. "I don't plan to find out if somehow Mako can change the biology of a man for the sake of procreation."

"Ngh!" Cloud bit down hard on his lip; pre-cum was already leaking. He managed to open the drawer by some miracle, but finding a condom was proving to be a challenge. He managed to somehow grasp with his fingers the crinkling plastic of the condom covering, shuddering heavily as Leon continued his ministrations with only his knee. "N-Now wh–ahh!–what?"

"Give it here," Leon commanded, taking the precious piece of protection from Cloud's shaking hands. The blond was finding it unfair that the brunet seemed so calm while he was left a quivering mess; he had overlooked the fact that Leon was experienced in this field. He heard Leon's teeth rip open the condom packaging. "Okay... this might feel a bit weird." It certainly did. Cloud shuddered at feeling Leon's hands on his most sensitive of body parts, only to grimace as the elastic-like sensation of the condom's material encased his member. He didn't like it. It felt tight and constricting.

"D-Do I have to wear it?" Cloud mumbled.

"I don't know what this Mako will do to me and..." Leon stopped for a moment, pausing as if to consider something. He then nodded his head. "Cloud... maybe we shouldn't do this. It's too much of a risk." Leon made to get away from the blond, but Cloud's wolf instincts kicked in. Like hell was he going to just let his mate run away from him now! He pressed his lips heavily to Leon's, hands grabbing the SeeD's wrists and pinning him to the bed, rubbing their members together by gyrating his hips. They had gone too far and too deep to turn back now. He reared away just a bit, concentrating of turning Leon's attention away from being entered by biting down hard on the crook between neck and shoulder. He plunged at that exact moment; Leon screeched in the shock of being bitten more than the shock of being entered so roughly. "Y-You bastard!" he swore. "I-I told you that I- ahhh!"

Cloud's groan was muffled, just staying still as he revelled in actually being inside the other. He was surprisingly still quite tight, and the velvety warmth sent shudders down his spine. Nothing could have prepared him for the sensation. The muscles in Leon's buttocks clenched tightly around him, his mouth uttering curses as he tried to get comfortable. "Fuck's sakes Cloud," he swore again breathlessly. "Move!" Cloud needn't any more prompting, rolling his hips slowly at first, searching for the bundle of nerves that would cause the usually straight-faced SeeD captain to murmur in euphoria. Soon the almost militaristic orders ceased, replaced by Leon's quiet panting and groans, and the animalistic feral growls from Cloud rumbled in his throat and against Leon's neck; Cloud's teeth, having grown a little more lupine in appearance, did not bite down on the flesh. Instead it scrapped against it, delighting his instincts as it quivered under them. He felt Leon's nails scratch down his back, and his legs wrap and lock around Cloud's hips, causing the sensation of thrusting into him to become deeper and more powerful. His eyes, now dilated and glowing with Mako energy, glanced up at the face of his mate, seeing the beads of sweat now glistening on his cheeks and forehead, the eyes closed and the mouth slightly open as the pleasured sounds escaped it. He pressed his lips over Leon's, sealing those sounds from escaping their maker, while his hand slipped down and now started to caress and pump the once ignored member of the brunet, helping him to reach the climax that was sorely sought for.

Leon had pulled away from their kiss and yelped in shock; Cloud felt his hand suddenly slick and his member inside the brunet sharply squeezed around, sending him into the dizzying heights of the dénouement of their passion. They stilled together, time trapping them in the awkward position of complete entanglement of limbs and bonding of bodies. His breaths were heavy, and the sweat was dripping off him and onto the cum spattered stomach of Leon. He smiled lightly at the brunet; the Fenrir was ready for another round, but Leon was still very still. He frowned; he had hoped that maybe he'd get a rare smile in return. "Leon?"

"Nnn...?"

"Are you alright?"

No answer. Cloud pulled Leon's head to face him; his eyelids were shuddering, as if his eyes were flickering about seeing a dream. His face was flushed, and he was hot to the touch. Cloud hazarded opening one of Leon's eyelids; the black pupils in a sea of blue-grey were large and dilated. He had just knocked Leon out. Cloud hurriedly pulled himself out of the brunet, his whole body going into a panic. He just knocked out one half of their partnership! Did Leon know that something like this could happen?-!

"...Cloud..." Leon grumbled, a few moments after his body was dragged onto Cloud's lap. Cloud was about to go take the body into the living room so that he could get Dr. Farron on the phone.

"Yes?-!" Cloud yelped.

"Put me back to bed and let me sleep," the brunet muttered, weakly opening his eyes. "And remind me to never have sex after experimentation again."

"Why didn't you say anything about you being tired out?" Cloud demanded.

"Because you didn't give me much chance to, Mr. Impatient," Leon shot back. It didn't really seem like his voice was full of venom though his expression was agitated with the Fenrir. "I'll forgive you this once though. I wasn't really in the mood to stop you."

"That's not really a good attitude to have," Cloud muttered.

"I'm tired, and beyond caring at this point. Make it up to me by letting me sleep and staying with me." He didn't look at Cloud at that last sentence. "And don't tell anyone that I'm like this in private. Ruins the whole "Leonhart the Devil" reputation I've got going for me."

At that moment, the Fenrir realised that Leon had opened up to him just that smallest bit more. Saying that he wasn't in the mood was Leon's way of telling him that he had wanted it too. Even so, he felt guilty for going the whole way when the brunet had tried to warn him that it might not have been a good idea. He hated the fact that animalistic instincts had overridden his own sense of humanity. He lay Leon down on the bed and lay with him, holding the brunet protectively. Leon didn't say a word... but at one point during the night when they had fallen asleep, he put a hand over Cloud's and kept it there.