route_1065 | If there's no end

Who: Cloud Strife

usedroar
Where: Cherrygrove City
When: Wednesday, July 13
Summary: Cloud has arrived in Cherrygrove and is going to meet Leon
Rating: G
Log:
The three days it took Cloud to get there weren't difficult. Mostly boring, in fact. The Scyther has been silent throughout, which was nice. For a bug with swords for hands anyways. He fought well and seemed to get stronger with each battle, which was fairly interesting. But eventually, they made it to Cherrygrove sometime during the night/early morning. Cloud got a room so he could shower and rest for a bit. He checked out the next morning to take a look at Cherrygrove and wait for Leon.

Cloud still couldn't figure out why this place was called a City. It was bigger than New Bark Town, sure, but not exactly a city. It was about the size of a town, actually. He eventually just sighed and let it go, there was no point in thinking about it. So he just walked around to take it all in and then went to the lake to sit and wait for Leon. He still wasn't sure how to think of all this. Being in Johto rather than Radiant Garden, people already knowing him but thinking he's from somewhere else, Scyther, and... just, Cloud didn't know.

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Leon had actually ridden Terror there, with Skarmory flying alongside to keep the younger, disobedient Aerodactyl in check. Though tough to handle, Terror had proven an agile flyer, and two days at a sedate pace was enough time to get them to Cherrygrove--right on time to meet with Cloud.

After checking both pokemon at the center, Leon made his way out onto the streets with Lucky, keeping his eyes peeled for a tall blonde. Luckily for them, Cloud was tough to miss in a place like Cherrygrove.

"Cloud!" Leon called, striding up to his friend.

Cloud turned when he heard his name being called and located Leon. He nodded to him, "Hey."

Guess Pokemon fly much faster than he gave them credit for. The nose bandage was still on Leon's face, he could see. "You ever going to explain that?"

Not only was the nose still bandage, Leon had seemingly adopted a full-on Fresh-from-the-battlefield look, with new bandages climbing up his arms, which were bare under his jacket. He didn't pause for Cloud's question, instead walked right over to the blonde and put a friendly hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Hey yourself." Seeing this particular face--one that recognized him--was both a relief (to have a friend here) and a pain (still fresh; knowing it would inevitably end). Leon raises two fingers to graze lightly against his still-smarting nose, mouth thinning. "I got on the wrong end of a punch."

Cloud still wasn't totally used to physical contact like this, but he returned the gesture all the same before glancing at those new bandages. He raised an eyebrow again. "I can see that. What happened?"

Leon wasn't one to get injured, really. He was a lot more careful and precise with his fighting. Cloud wasn't, though that wasn't to say he was getting injured all over the place.

Leon opens his mouth to answer, then shuts it, ducking his head. This is embarassing, but it's Cloud, Cloud is a friend. Is Cloud any good with women? Leon supposes not considering the other man's character, but Tifa and Aerith both seem interested, so maybe it was just that Leon didn't see it.

He shifts his eyes away, motioning to his nose. "...a girl did it." He pauses, then corrects himself. "A woman."

Which really begs the question as to what he did to her to get a shiner like that one. "The scratches on my arms are from a pokemon."

A woman punched Leon in the face? "What did you do?" He couldn't help it, he was smirking lightly.

He wasn't trying to tease or make fun. He'd been on the wrong end of Tifa's fist before, so it was no laughing matter. But Leon didn't piss off as many girls-- women, as Cloud did. And even then, Cloud never intentionally did it.

It just sort of happened.

Leon scowled in return, feeling self-conscious.

"I avoided her. For too long." That was the reason, supposedly. Most of the time, girls were happy to be ignored by Leon! He was a big grump. A sexy grump, but a grump. Lightning was definitely not most women. "She got upset."

Now, Cloud wasn't the most receptive person when it came to women, make no mistake. But he was sensing that there was more to this than mere avoidance. He avoided Tifa and Aerith all the time and they've never punched him out for it before.

"And you were avoiding her because...?"

He nearly groaned. Instead, he settled for rubbing the spot between his eyes unhappily. There were about a thousand reasons he could come up with why telling Cloud was a bad idea, but mostly, his wounded pride wouldn't let him.

"Because...there were a lot of reasons. Can we drop this?"

Cloud scoffed lightly before shrugging. It wasn't like he was going to make Leon talk. "Yeah. So how long have you been here?"

Leon stilled at the question, which was more like what he was used to hearing. "Since October of last year, so about ten months," came the answer. "And you? How was the trip here?"

"That's... awhile," Cloud replied. "Guess the Darkness isn't the only place where time is odd."

He looked briefly to his Scyther, who was sitting in the sand, and Cloud shrugged a bit. "Fine. Boring, mostly."

"It definitely isn't," Leon agreed, giving Scyther a nod, before turning back to Cloud. "Have you named him?"

Leon himself wasn't entirely the best with nicknames, and the few he had given some to had either been exceptional--like Lucky--or adamant about getting one--like Strike--or inherited from friends--like Al.

If there's no end

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