Disclaimer: I don't own anything ;-;
Author's Notes: ... have fun ^^;;,
Wordless
Chapter 1 - Introduction
By Resonae Eoir
As he watched the teen move, training under the soft glow of the moonlight, he racked his head for a word to describe the boy. He impatiently flicked a blonde strand out of his blue eyes.
Nothing.
He couldn't think of any word at all to describe Squall Leonhart. It was disturbing.
Ever since Ansem was put down, Squall's curse had lifted. The person who had been at least four year older than he was now seventeen, the age he should have been. He held an unearthly beauty, body lithe and smooth, slender and pale. He never knew just how Squall managed to keep his body completely muscle-less. No signs of lean muscles moving under the white shirt. Nope, Squall was skin and bone. He looked sickly sometimes, his skin too pale and his wrists too thin. No wonder Aerith worried about him so much.
Lionheart gleamed in the moonlight, dangerous in his its beauty. His buster sword was all wrapped up in bandages, but Lionheart was mysterious, in a way. Beautiful and dangerous. At least his knife had words to describe it. Leonhart's beauty refused to be described. It was too holy to be described.
Lionheart, Leonhart. Cloud sometimes wondered if the sword was named after its master. Or the other way around. "Ready to take me on?"
Squall's icy gaze penetrated his own. He then turned away, bending over and picking his jacket up. "... Fuck off."
Cloud sighed. Aerith and Yuffie had begged him to look after Squall when he was training. Something about him passing out and no one being there to help him once. Yuffie had found him just in time. But if the ice princess wasn't going to be cooperative, he might as well kick back and enjoy himself.
"Hey, princess, I'm here to prevent you from catching your death here, so you may as well be grateful." Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Yuffie and Aerith told me you almost did once. Something about a hundred-and-five degree fever and coughing up blood." He smirked. "Even if you are a masochist, that couldn't have been too fun."
Squall's leg would have connected with his stomach if he hadn't sensed it and caught it. "Shut the fuck up."
Cloud chuckled lowly. "You like to kick in battle. I've noticed that. Arms too weak? I heard Lionheart isn't as heavy as it looks. In fact, it's made out of the lightest metals there are, isn't it, princess?"
He was expecting another blow - to the chest this time. But Squall suddenly went limp – not unconscious, just limp. Like Cloud had just sucked the strength out of him. His shoulders went limp and he weakly sheathed his Lionheart. "Let go of me." He requested softly.
Surprised and taken aback by the sudden change in attitude of the teen, Cloud dropped the leg he had been holding, and watched Squall hurry off to the second district. He hurried after the teen, watching the boy yank open the hotel doors, jump down and wade through the waterway. He cursed when the water level suddenly increased. Fucking Leonhart. He cursed Squall's ability to use Water. He swam through the heightened level and surfaced. "What are you trying to do, fucking drown yourself?!" He snatched Squall's wrists and got rid of the blue glow due to the magic. Fuck Leonhart. Fuck his fucking suicidal streak. Fuck his fucking beauty... Wait. The last one didn't have anything to do with – fuck Leonhart for messing his mind up.
"Water calms me."
"So you'd drown?! What, you were gonna stop before you drowned?"
"... I was going to stop at neck level."
"What if you passed out, huh? Holding the water in this shape outside the walls has to be draining you."
"Then too bad."
"Too bad?! Are you fucking suicidal?!" Oh, wait. "Okay, stupid question. What happens if the water floods?"
"... You'd clean it."
Fucking Leonhart. He had the right answer to every fucking question. "Okay, let's compromise here. You can hold the water at waist level. And I'll sit here and just watch."
Squall seemed to settle, and dropped the water level a notch. "Do you mind?"
"Huh?"
"If I swim?"
"Huh?"
An annoyed amethyst swam in Squall's color-changing orbs. "If I take my clothes off. Do you mind?"
"Huh? Oh, no." Hell, no. Cloud thought, watching Squall shrug off his leather jacket – which was wet, he noticed – and his leather pants – also wet – and his shirt. "You're not gonna be wearing those anymore."
Squall nodded absentmindedly, and dove smoothly in. Cloud was going to remind him of the shallow water level, but Squall had smoothly maneuvered himself so he glided in the water just over the rocks at the bottom. He remembered to think, Fuck Leonhart for being fucking perfect at fucking everything. Cloud winced at the sickly pale skin, and the too-thin waist. "Leonhart."
"I thought you were gonna just sit and watch."
Cloud ignored the annoyed statement. "You're gonna eat the first thing we get home. I can count your fucking ribs, damn it, and your skin color can't be too good."
Squall ignored the blonde. Cloud gulped as the slender body played under the water's surface, barely ever resurfacing for air. Cloud wondered if the ice princess was human. Maybe he was some sort of a weird heartless that didn't need air or food. He stared at the slender, unearthly body for a while, then winced and turned away. Okay. He was painfully aroused and he had to go somewhere to relieve it, or the ice princess he was hard over was going to notice and that would not be too –
"If you need to go jerk off, go ahead."
- good.
Cloud growled. Fucking Leonhart and his keen senses. He hurried over and freed his aching organ. Fuck Leonhart... Smooth body, covered in sweat, the soft alto voice, keening in pleasure... Fuck, he was probably fucking tight, the stupid virgin...
"Strife!"
Cloud thanked the gods he'd come, and hurriedly ran over, buster sword ready. "Fuck it, Leonhart, why the hell do you always tend to – damn it, here's your knife..."
Squall grabbed the Gunblade and slammed the hilt on the heartless' head. "It's not a knife." He protested softly, and leapt out of the water, reminding Cloud of Yuffie's aerial flips. Heh. Yuffie always had said she'd teach Squall ninja moves. He just never thought she'd be able to convince the lone wolf to actually do it. "I thought the Heartless were gone. Ansem's dead. What are these doing here?!" He let Cloud cast Thundaga at the Sheltering Zone. Cloud noticed Squall was limping, and then noticed the large burn on his calf. He hissed and ran over, but Squall stopped him. "It's nothing, take care of the Heartless first. I hate Sea Neons." He raised his arms. "Move. I'll take care of this, if you're too slow."
"Oh, nononononono..." Cloud groaned as Squall disappeared and in his place stood a thunder god. "Why the stupid GF, I fucking hate Quezacotl..." He eyed the munny balls, hp balls and mp balls on the ground – along with a certain brunette. "And it drains you completely." He muttered, tugging his ragged cloak off and wrapping it around the too-thin body. He left the rest of Squall's clothing there. It wasn't as if the princess could wear wet leather and he had the same outfit five more times anyway.
Cloud noted with disdain Squall was barely any weight on his arms. First thing he'd do when Squall woke up was stuff his face with Aerith's cooking. Then – Then do something about his skin color. He muttered softly and pushed the door open, and lowered him to the bed. "Hey, Leonhart." He muttered. "I know you're awake. GF's drain you for about three minutes." He sat next to the bed and frowned when his only answer was labored breathing. "Oh, joy." He stood and rummaged through Yuffie's cabinet. Cold medicine, cold medicine... There. "GF draining and a fever. I wonder why I bother with you, the stupid..."
"The stupid what?" Squall's voice was strained. "And you aren't feeding me any of Yuffie's medicine, those things are fucking poison."
"They're good for you. They might taste like shit, but they actually do work." Cloud poured the innocent-looking khaki-green tea into a cup. The medicine looked innocent enough, the soothing color and all, but it tasted like shit that someone had dragged through a dumpster, a sewage and back. He carried the cup to Squall, noticed a note on the desk, picked it up and handed the cup to Squall, who eyed it with repulse. "'Cid found a breach in the walls. Gone to explore it with him – Aerith and Yuffie.' A breach? That might mean you might be able to go back to your world. Ansem said they're all alive, right?"
"You can go." Squall's voice caught in his throat. "But something still binds me to this world." He lifted his arm and inspected it, almost as if he expected to see chains binding his wrists. He eyed Cloud's single wing enviously. "I wish I had one, too."
Cloud snorted and turned. "So you'd trade your heart for it?" He sat at the window, facing away from Squall. "It's hell being a heartless, you know."
Squall's voice was quiet. "I'd do anything to see them again." He stood quietly, placing the still full cup on the table. "You aren't bound to any worlds. You can travel through any walls, you can travel to my world." His slender fingers landed on Cloud's wing and Cloud turned sharply around, but Squall didn't stop running his hands along the spine of the wing, fingers worrying the black feathers.
Cloud suddenly snatched his thin wrist. Squall looked confused but followed as Cloud dragged him out the door, jumped down and burst into the first district. "Get the hell out of my way." He hissed at the guards stationed at the World Entrance.
"But Master Cid said - "
"Fuck what Cid said!" His drew his buster sword. "Get out of my way or I'll kill you."
Squall's eyed were wide, and Cloud saw onyx confusion swimming in his eyes. Cloud yanked him forward and into the abyss. He felt arms encircle his waist. "Fuck, I'm gonna drop you, you're so goddamn thin, feels like you're gonna slip outta my arms... Arms around my neck, Squall." Squall hesitantly obeyed. He wanted to question just where he was being taken to, but Cloud seemed to be busy with something. Something about "Stupid walls and their fucking uselessness."
Then he felt Cloud's speed die. "Where are we?"
Cloud pushed the door open. "Below the Coliseum. Happy? You'll get your wings here. If you give Sephiroth what he asks for. Most likely - " he eyed the slender body. "Shoot. I forgot to put clothes on you." All Squall had were his boxers and Cloud's ragged cloak around his body. Cloud cursed and shrugged his shirt off. "Put it on." He hissed. "I was gonna say Sephiroth's most likely to ask for your virginity, but I'm more than sure he's going to now." He tugged at the pale wrist and dragged him toward a large room. "Too late to back off now, Squall. You better be ready to give up whatever he asks for."
Squall stayed silent. He wracked his head for anything he could give up. Nothing. He didn't keep anything he didn't need. Well, except the Ultima Weapon. Maybe he could get this Sephiroth to take that. It was a good weapon and plus, Sephiroth would want it. If the Heartless truly were coming back.
Suddenly a muscular arm wrapped around his waist and tugged him away from Cloud. Cloud turned sharply. "Let go of him." Cloud's eyes were ice and his free hand was already on his buster sword. "Sephiroth, I will kill you if you don't let go of him."
A chuckle echoed in his ears and Squall noticed with disdain he seemed to be being hugged a lot lately. Especially with one arm. He wondered if Cloud was right about him needing to eat a little more. "Will you, Cloud? He's a beautiful little child. I see you haven't gotten around to bedding him yet."
Squall stiffened but knew better then to move. Sephiroth had a dagger pressed right to his back and he knew that was the only reason Cloud didn't move. "Let him down, Sephiroth." His voice was smooth, dangerous.
"You've come to ask for wings, Squall, haven't you? You want to offer me your Ultima Weapon. I would like to bed you. But it is a tempting offer, the weapon." Sephiroth chuckled lightly. "But so is your virgin body."
"Let. Him. Down." Cloud's sword was suddenly pressed onto Sephiroth's back. "I can kill you before you have time to drive that dagger into him. Let him down."
Sephiroth sighed and did. "Now, that weapon..." He tilted Squall's chin up. "Where is the weapon... child...?"
A beautiful frown set upon his face and Squall muttered, "I'm no child."
"Of course." Sephiroth's hand slid down to his chest. "May I ask why you're wearing only Cloud's shirt and his cloak?" Ruby-red fogged Squall's eyes and a similar color spread over Cloud's cheeks. Sephiroth chuckled. "Irvine, Seifer and Zell would be upset."
Squall suddenly tensed. "How... How do you know...about..."
"They are fine, if you were wondering. They are worried sick about you. Half of Garden has given up hope you are alive. However, there are eleven that have not given up hope. The Headmaster, Xu, Quistis, Rinoa, Selphie, Laguna, Kiros, Ward." His smirked. "And your three lovers. Zell, Seifer and Irvine."
Cloud's eyes widened. Three lovers...? Squall seemed to pay no heed to him. "How are they?! Are they okay? Are – are any of them hurt?" Squall was leaning up, and Cloud's heart stilled. Sephiroth smirked at him. In mere seconds their lips would meet. "How is the Garden?" Cloud knew he had to stop it, Squall was too observed in the information of his old friends he wasn't noticing anything else. But Squall would never forgive him, would he? All the beautiful brunette wanted was to know about his friends. He wasn't even aware he was leaning closer and closer to his would-be rapist if Cloud didn't refuse to move an inch from the place he was in. Sephiroth knew Cloud would kill him before he could lay a finger on Squall.
"Ah, just like you to worry, Commander." Sephiroth smirked. "I will settle for the Ultima Weapon – and give Cloud his heart back – if you stay still."
"Huh? What are you - "
"Squall!"
Squall's eyed widened as lips settled on his own, strong arms crushing his body. He heard Cloud curse loudly behind him, heard two swords clang, felt pain burst in his body, and then knew no more.
Weak blue eyes finally opened and Cloud sighed in relief. "Hey. I thought he killed you. That was stupid of me, I forgot he had that fucking dagger. I just snapped when he kissed you, it was like... Fuck, I don't know what it was like. And you have three boyfriends? And they haven't fucked you yet? Gee, I knew you were strange, but - "
"... You're giving me a headache. What happened...?" Squall groaned and curled up into a ball. "And where are we? This is too bright to be below the Coliseum..."
Cloud grinned nervously. "Well, er, let's see. We're in Deep Jungle, I just brought us to the first place I saw. For your other question... I kinda lost it when he kissed you, and I made a lunge for it, you know? He parried it - barely, mind you - and then stabbed you with the dagger. Damn, and then I just kinda saw red, my vision kinda shut down and all, there was so much fucking blood and you were bleeding like... like... I don't know, you were bleeding a lot, and your new fucking wings weren't helping any, cause they're white and by the way they're stained with your blood, and oh my fucking god, I was so fucking scared you were gonna die, cause you're so pale and you were barely breathing and Yuffie and Aerith would fucking kill me, hell, I woulda killed myself, and I kinda screwed Sephiroth over, I was so fucking mad, and then - "
Squall's voice was tense. "Hold on. You're giving me a headache. How many sentences was that? Like, one? It didn't make sense at all, you rambled and I – " Squall was cut off abruptly by a fierce hug. He was frozen in place, Cloud's muscular arms wrapped around his body like a shield, one around his shoulders and the other around his waist. Squall sat frozen as the arms around his tightened, and he felt hot tears against the cloth of Cloud's shirt.
"I was scared I lost you." Cloud's voice was hoarse. "There was so much blood. I forgot just how much blood there could be. As a heartless I never had to bleed, but now I'm a human now, but that's not the point, there was just so much blood. And you slipped from his arms, and then you were in a puddle of your own fucking blood and I was so fucking scared." His lips moved to Squall's cheeks. "Listen, I know you've got three people already, but if – if you could just... just find a place in your heart for me... just a little corner..." His lips moved to a hair's width of Squall's petite ones. "Just... a corner..."
Squall's eyes widened to their limits as their lips meshed together, Cloud's lips moving gently against his. Squall pulled away. "Cl-Cl-cloud..." Squall drew back further unconsciously. "I – I've already got three – three people, and it – it's not what you think, I'm not cheating on anyone. We're all... an item, I guess."
It was Cloud's turn to widen his eyes. "Wa-wait. S-So it's a foursome, huh?" A sly smile crept up on his face, as if forgetting all his sincere words he'd spoken less than a minute a go. "Kinda hard for you in sex, huh? Three things shoving up your ass can't feel too good." He laughed when a fierce red blush colored the pale cheeks.
"Is that all you can think about?!" Squall snapped hotly, and hissed. "I thought you were being sincere for once, and you go and do this." He frowned at the added weight to his back. "They're heavy." He drew his wings around himself and examined the pure-white feathers. "And I've got two, instead of one."
Cloud nodded, laughing. "Yup. I look like a devil and you look like an angel. A great combination we make, huh?" He chuckled and reached over behind him, and presented Squall with a broken Lionheart. "Er... it kinda broke when Sephiroth dropped you in a really awkward angle. I mean, it wasn't your weight that broke it, but after it got stuck upright in the ground, he snapped it in half."
Squall's eyes ran up and down the broken blade. Cloud thought he'd cry, but Squall only gulped noticeably and reached for the broken pieces. The Gunblade was broken in two, and not even neatly. The edges were chipped and he noticed some fragments were missing. Cloud dropped a bag in his lap. "I went back when you were asleep and picked up all the little pieces. I, er, know it's not gonna be much, but, I just, you know, thought you'd want all of it back. But, you know, there might be still little microscopic pieces on the floor."
Squall nodded numbly and stood shakily, trying to adjust to the new weight on his back. He noticed with slight disdain he was in jeans and a white shirt, not his usual leather. But at least it was clothes... He noticed Cloud had managed his ragged cloak around himself again. He tugged at the blanket and gently placed the two large pieces and the bag of rubble down, and wrapped then thin cloth around it. "Maybe someone could fix it."
Cloud and Squall both knew that was near impossible, but Cloud let Squall wrap his precious blade in the cloth. Squall made a bag out of it and slung it across his shoulders, between his wings. If his buster sword was in that state, he'd go ballistic. Squall seemed close to tears, but he was keeping it all in. "How do I fly?"
Cloud placed his hand on both wings – Squall flinched involuntarily. Cloud chuckled. "Yeah, see? Very sensitive. And you just went ahead and touched mine. Here. Move your wings like this. You have Float magic, right? Maybe that could help a bit." He guided the joints left to right.
Squall shook his head. "If I do that, I'll never learn it." He watched Cloud shrug and lift off easily. His eyes followed every movement of the single wing, even if he knew that double wings were supposed to be different from one. He flapped his wings the way Cloud had. Cloud held him steady as he lifted off the ground.
"That's it. Keep it up." Cloud chided gently. "A little more, come on." He guided Squall a bit higher. He grinned when Squall easily maneuvered himself on a draft of warm air. "That's good."
"It's kinda like flying Ragnarok. Or a gummi ship, I think." Cloud nodded to the comparison. He watched Squall stretch his wings to their fullest beauty, and his breath caught in his throat. The sun's rays were dancing on pure-white feathers, coloring them a faint hue of lemon and letting no shadows lurk on white wings.
Squall gave sudden yelp as he lost his balance, and Cloud started as the brunette fell through the air. He cursed and dove down to the ice lion. Squall clenched his eyes shut and willed his long-buried magic to come through. He hadn't used Float in ages. The long-lost magic refused to come off from its buried place.
No, Squall, use me!
Pandemona!
Squall summoned the Guardian Force without a moment's hesitation. Cloud winced as the lavender GF blasted up at the last moment, but let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He'd forgotten Pandemona was most closely related to wind. He landed next to Squall when the brunette reappeared, looking only a bit winded. "You okay, Squall?"
Squall nodded mutely, and shook his head as if to clear it, then cleared his throat. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I guess I need a bit more training..."
"Anyway, we need to get back to Traverse Town."
"Why?"
"Those chains binding you to it? It limited your time on other worlds to a day, at most, right? You should be able to see them now and destroy them."
Squall let a slight smile play on his lips as he flew straight through the small gaps in the walls. He let out a soft grunt when he miscalculated his landing and landed face first into Merlin's bed. "Ow... Sorry, Merlin."
Merlin looked not at all surprised to see pure white wings on the brunette's back. "Of course, Squall." He smiled kindly at Cloud. "And I see your heart is back." Cloud shook his head in wonder. Sometimes the foolish wizard was wiser than anyone could ever comprehend.
Squall frowned suddenly. Cloud saw him place his hands on something unseen, but he knew Squall could see them. "They're rusted." Squall whispered, and he tugged the invisible chains. The rusted metal snaked around his ankles and wrists and his waist, tangling him in their web but not shackling him. If he could make a gap, then he'd be free. He frowned. "I need my Gunblade." He complained and tugged harder on the chains. "Firaga."
Merlin gave a yelp and dodged the fireball. "Try not to burn down my house. Cloud did the exact same thing. Weapons won't work, either. You've got to use physical force."
Cloud winced. "That could be a little problem, huh?" His eyes examined the too-thin wrists. "Why don't you try using your legs to do something?"
Squall gave this a thought, then wound one chain around his ankle, stepped on a heap, and pulled with all his strength. He gritted his teeth. Shiva, can you help? Can you see the chains?
Well, yes, but what can I do, Squall? Freeze them?
Can you? Then Ifrit could melt them, maybe?
At this, the usually sullen GF gave a snort. Maybe, if you want burn marks all over your body.
Yes, sweetie, that option is out of the question. How about the Brothers? They are pretty strong.
Squall prodded the sleeping Brothers. The older examined the chains, then gave a gruff nod. He saw the two brothers take the chains, but he knew Cloud and Merlin only saw his hands. The two brothers pulled the chains apart with surprising ease and even helped him shake the chains off.
"Well." Cloud blinked. "That was weird. How'd you do that so fast?"
Squall shrugged, choosing not to explain. The two brothers, now awake, were arguing incessantly in his head. He let out a small sigh of relief when Diablos lost his temper and screamed at them to shut up – which they did immediately. He had to get to his world, now. He had all the GFs, and he had to return them.
Siren piped up excitedly. I will get to see Irvine again?
Yes, Siren. Shiva answered instead of him. Isn't it wonderful? Squall will finally be back home.
Squall felt Siren jump up and down in joy. It is wonderful! Oh, Squall, you won't have to feel lonely any longer, and we'll finally be able to get back to Garden! Take down some T Rexes rather than Heartlesses. I'm sure Ifrit is happy to hear that!
A soft grunt answered the over-hyper GF. Squall let a slight smile touch his lips as he heard the GFs' conversation. They were nice company, even if Diablos had a nasty temper and Alexander tended to show off a lot.
Hey! I heard that! Diablos sounded cross.
So did I. I do not show off a lot. Perhaps a bit, but not that much. Alexander broke into his thoughts as well.
He heard Eden chuckle. You do show off a lot, Alexander.
I do not.
Yes, you do.
I do not.
Yes, you do.
I do no-
All right, all right! Bahamut cried out, and Squall couldn't control a small giggle. Enough already. Squall, Merlin and Cloud are wondering if you've gone mad.
Squall scowled and shook his head to clear his head. He let the crowd of GFs in his head argue along off to the side. He glanced at Cloud and Merlin, the latter waving his bony hand in front of his eyes. "All right, all right, I'm okay. Hyne, stop that, it's annoying."
Cloud snorted. "Were you talking to your GFs again?"
"Maybe." Squall shrugged, and he lifted his wings. "I'm gonna go get going."
Merlin shook his head. "Yes, you do that. Yuffie and Aerith and Cid are in danger, and they are lost within your world, Leon. I will get you to the rift in the walls. Go through it and you should be able to get to your world. Hurry, both of you." He waved his wand, and Squall winced as he crashed into the wall and Cloud crashed into him.
"Get off of me, Strife." Squall's angry hiss was muffled by Cloud's weight. Ifrit, get him off of me!
My pleasure.
A burst of fire and Cloud was off of his back. Cloud winced and hissed, "What the fuck, Leonhart! I was getting off!"
Squall only glared and made his way to the small crack. "Will you fit?" He examined the small crack. "I'll fit, but will you?" He glanced and Cloud and tugged on his wrist. Cloud eyed the rift in the walls, and sighed. He curled up into a small ball, and half-crawled his way through, then tugged his buster sword through.
Squall slipped in easily, and then a small smile broke on his face. "See? That's my Garden." He whispered softly, and the GFs in his mind were silent in awe as well. "That's my Garden." He tugged on Cloud's wrist and folded his wings, diving fully. He couldn't care less if he was gonna crash into someone's room, he only cared –
... No, not really. He opened his wings in an abrupt brake but crashed into a window nonetheless and landed on a warm body.
"Holy Hyne, it better not be you, Zell, or I'll positively - "
"...Irvine?"
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