Secrets and Lies

A/N: Sorry for the time it took to get this up. I don't really update regularly, rather, I write when the fancy strikes me and when I have a number of roleplays to consider on top of working on this, I tend to take ages to motivate myself to update. However, chapter two is now up. Obviously.

Secrets and Lies
Chapter Two
Heat

It was another particularly hot day when a certain blond swordsman found himself in the marketplace. Apparently, he’d subconsciously decided that a frozen treat was in order to combat the heat. Unfortunately, everyone and their neighbour seemed to have had the same idea and as a result, the small market square was absolutely heaving with people. Scrooge was probably rolling in money. Or he would be once he’d finished robbing everyone with his grossly inflated prices. He doubted that anyone particularly cared how much it cost right then, so long as they could find some kind of relief from the heat.

To his surprise, the brunet gunblader seemed to have been drawn to the marketplace also; maybe the potential reprieve from the heat had lured him to the area too. But, upon closer inspection, the older swordsman was holding what appeared to be bottled water, not a sea-salty iced treat.

It wasn’t the fact that Leon had probably done the smart thing by choosing water over an ice lolly, and done the cheaper thing too, but the simple fact that the brunet was in such a public place. Cloud knew that if Leon wanted to remain undetected then the townspeople would never give him away but the man wasn’t even trying to remain concealed in the shadows cast by the shops around them. This was unusual because for the last few days, since he’d recovered, he’d been making himself scarce and nobody had seen much of him at all.

It hadn’t even been a week since they’d found the reluctant leader hung by his shoulder and the memory was as fresh as ever. Cloud had returned to the site once, while Leon was recovering, to see if he could find any clues as to how the gunblader had managed to wind up as high and as hurt as he had been, but there had been nothing at all to give away who was behind the terrible deed. When it had happened, even though he’d remained as calm as ever on the outside, inside, his stomach had turned at the sight and he had to wonder if that was what he had looked like each and every time Sephiroth had done the same to him with Masamune.

However, as soon as he could walk again, Leon had left their shared house and nobody really saw him. He still came home, that much was obvious from the clean dish and cup on the drainer every morning from the man’s customary bowl of cornflakes and cup of black coffee, but he seemed to be making it a point to get up ridiculously early, earlier than his normal six thirty routine, and get home well into the early hours of the morning to avoid everyone. He must be lucky to get even four hours sleep a night. If Aerith found out about his sleeping habits, she would throw a fit. She was worried enough about the stoic leader’s health without adding lack of sleep to the mix. He still didn’t have a new mobile phone either, so he couldn’t be reached while he was out, putting the poor woman even more ill at ease.

But there he was, leaning comfortably against the wall, one booted foot braced against it, arms folded as usual, head bowed just enough for it to appear as though he didn’t much care about the goings on around him. That was when his purpose became apparent. Even though it meant risking an encounter with the people he called friends, he was watching over the townspeople as they bought their sea salt ice creams to make sure no fights started. With the heat as it was, people were prone to short tempers and with so many people all wanting the same thing, he supposed it was only a matter of time before someone with a short fuse grew tired of waiting in the sun, or got pushed one too many times as everyone jostled for a good position amongst the masses of people wanting refreshment. With Leon’s presence nearby, order would be kept.

It was the perfect opportunity to confront the man about a few things. The first of which was going to be who hung him from the castle wall. He didn’t expect an answer but it was worth a try. He’d convinced himself that he wanted to know so that he could inform Aerith and the rest of the committee and they could decide what to do and how to tackle the problem of the currently unknown assailant, he didn’t want to find out what had happened out of any kind of care or concern for the man.

Some emotion flickered across the brunet’s face when their eyes met and it looked suspiciously negative before his neutral expression returned. Cloud thought nothing of it since the gunblader had already made it quite clear that he wasn’t interested in the company of others, and continued making his way over to the formerly elusive brunet, watching as Leon pushed off the wall and straightened up almost defensively, leaving his arms folded, though a subtle twitch of his fingers betrayed his desire to have his weapon in hand.

Perhaps Cloud should have thought about what he was going to ask the man, besides about the incident involving at the castle walls, before he approached.

“Leon.” The blond greeted with a small nod. He got nothing but an equally small nod in return.

“I thought you’d be out finishing the repairs on the outer edge of Radiant Garden. Or is that where you’ve been lately anyway?” He asked almost flatly, feigning disinterest. For some reason, Leon seemed to need to consider his reply and when he did finally reply, Cloud almost missed it as his attention had wandered to the man’s appearance. Leon had shadows beneath his eyes and his hair seemed more limp and dull than it normally was but he called his observation to a halt when he realised that the man was answering his question.

“I haven’t finished working on the castle.” The gunblader replied, scowling. “I’m not here for long, just until the people disperse.” He explained, removing his gaze from the blond and directing it to the masses of people still milling around in the centre square, some with ice creams, some without. Already the number of people had decreased, cheering a few of the still queuing people who had been stuck in the heat for far too long already. With his mission apparently accomplished, since the crowd had begun to dwindle, and with a possibility of escaping Cloud, Leon made his move, arms falling to his sides as he brushed past Cloud and began heading in the general direction of the castle. Cloud fell into step beside him, ignorant of the strange look the gunblader sent in his direction.

“I was wondering if you felt like talking about what happened at the castle a few days back. Everyone’s been worried about you; you should talk to the others.” He announced, ignoring how Leon’s lips had thinned to a firm line while he spoke.

“The others shouldn’t worry about me, I’m fine. I can deal with this on my own.” He informed the blond and Cloud felt strangely as though it was his help was being denied, not just help in general, or concern for that matter. However, if this new threat was anything like Sephiroth had been, Cloud knew for certain that it would be something Leon couldn’t handle on his own no matter how much he might want to.

Even if Leon hated him for it, he would find a way to help him even if it was only a small way. That was what warriors, friends, did for each other, right?

“So what did happen at the castle then?” Cloud tried again, determined to get some sort of answer for the question, when the gunblader completely ignored the question though, the blond gave up for the time being and instead changed his line of questioning, or rather, made a demand. “Before you go and disappear again, I want you to know that we’re sparring, tonight at the Dark Depths.” And with that, Cloud turned on his heel and started back the way he came, going to get that ice cream he’d forgone earlier, leaving Leon to carry on towards the castle.

Cloud spent the rest of the day preparing for their spar, just knowing that Leon was going to be there. He’d never turn down a chance to hone his skills and the blond knew just how much it meant to Leon to be strong, to be prepared for anything. The brunet wasn’t exactly very predictable but there were some things that were almost guaranteed to catch the man’s attention. What he wasn’t prepared for though was the man’s reluctance to be there, rolling off him in waves once the time arrived for their spar.

It was dark out by then, not only so that it was cooler but also to heighten the thrill of the fight, having limited visibility and all but even in the gloom, it was easy to see how drawn the other’s feature’s were, how tense he appeared and the blond didn’t understand why the man was so against their spar, they’d never had any problems doing so before. He’d turned up though, so whatever was on his mind couldn’t be so bad as to stop him coming at all, though he had a nasty feeling that this spar wouldn’t be as fulfilling as past ones had been if Leon was going to as distracted during the fighting as he appeared to be already.

The fight turned out to be short and unsatisfying.

While Leon was still better than some swordsmen the blond had come across in his time, he was off his game by far that evening. His only noteworthy attack was rather sly, he had to admit, but it wasn’t followed up by anything particularly threatening. The crafty, albeit distracted brunet had let off a fire spell at close range, not to cause damage but to temporarily blind him. However, Leon had only offered a few lazy swings in the opening he’d created for himself, attacks that the blond could have blocked in his sleep.

It was ended through the brunet’s carelessness and inattentiveness as he failed to dodge an attack directed at his midsection. He avoided serious injury but still received a nasty slice into his side that immediately splattered blood to the floor and stained the shirt he was wearing. Fearing that he’d seriously hurt the brunet, Cloud immediately approached, already searching his person for potions or healing magic and although he wasn’t surprised to find nothing of the healing variety on him, he still felt the pang of regret for not coming prepared, and for hurting the man in the first place even if it hadn’t been his fault.

It had troubled him some during the day, the fact that he was more concerned for the brunet than he might otherwise have expected but he supposed, or rather hoped, that everybody who knew the man had become much more attentive towards him since the incident less than a week earlier. He’d been wracking his brain as much as anyone to try and identify the attacker whom the brunet refused to reveal but he had yet to even come up with an idea, let alone an accurate prediction. He had to wonder at that too. He didn’t understand why Leon refused to give up the assailant’s name, didn’t understand why Leon would protect the person who had hurt him so badly. He knew the man wanted to deal with it himself, but going so far as to conceal the culprit’s identity seemed foolish and dangerous.

Rather than dwell on it, he concentrated on the situation at hand and crouched close beside the injured gunblader.

At first, Leon tried push him away, using his own healing magic to tend to the thin but fairly deep wound in his side but after the blond swordsman leaned in to make sure Leon had tended the wound properly, not just half healed it and left the wound open since he had a tendency to neglect himself, both men froze when their lips brushed as Cloud drew back from his inspection.

Leon’s eyes went wide in surprise before they narrowed and darkened, informing the blond of how the walls around the gunblader had slammed back into place. However, as Cloud watched those defences lock into place once more, he found himself leaning in and claiming the brunet’s lips once again.

Leon remained unresponsive for a full thirty seconds before his lips moved tentatively against Cloud’s own and they shared a brief but deep kiss.

It was after Cloud began to take their intimacy to the next level that things began to take a turn for the worse.

Unexpectedly, their contact was beginning to get rather heated as Cloud’s hands slipped beneath the fabric of the brunet’s shirt and he was pleased to pry a shaky sigh from the stoic gunblader with his action. The brunet had showed no signs of discomfort with their positioning, even encouraging the blond to settle more comfortably upon him and raising his arms to grip his sparring partner’s hips which Cloud found pleasing as it meant that he wasn’t the only one who seemed to want to go further already than simple kisses.

He wasn’t sure what had come over him but being so close to the brunet was intoxicating, driving all rational thought from his mind. All he knew was that he wanted the gunblader and he wanted him right then, Gaia damn the consequences.

All he could see was the man laid out beneath him, shirt riding up just enough to expose a teasing glimpse of toned stomach. He could see those blue/grey eyes smouldering with a mix of lust and some other primitive emotion that he was powerless to resist. He could taste the man’s breath, smell the man’s cologne and feel the heat growing between them.

He had the gunblader’s shirt over his head and tangled around his arms to keep them in place when his awareness suddenly faded and he knew no more.