[237 - Carpe Diem] Appreciation

[obabscribbler.livejournal.com]

Title: Appreciation
Challenge: [#237 - Carpe Diem]
Characters: Leon, Cloud
Rating: G
Word Count: 598
Summary: Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses.

 

He sits out on the balcony, or leans, or stands. Just being here is the thing. From here, he can see the badlands, and the walls enclosing the town below the castle. A good vantage point, his back-brain whispers, while his senses pick up on cooking smells, children shrieking and everything else the breeze presents for his inspection.

 

It’s hard to be clinical here. He spent ages exorcising the impulse; a combination of training and necessity bred by nine years in Traverse Town. Back then, one wrong move brought death. From the beginning, when King Mickey took them to their new home, he refused to lose anyone else and became unreasonable in his demands. He made himself leader through sheer force of will, even though Cid was senior and more experienced. Everyone was in danger, and only he could see it clearly. Danger was everywhere, and they needed him to point it out. They had to defend themselves against the danger. He had to defend them. It was his responsibility, so he changed himself into something cold and clinical so he could keep them safe, come what may.

 

One thing you learn after living like that is how to appreciate the mundane. He’s still telling himself danger isn’t around every corner – unless you count Yuffie and her inexhaustible supply of water balloons. Or Aerith and her undrinkable lemonade. Or Tifa and her offers of sparring. Or Cid with a wrench and a demand for some help fixing something-or-other. Or Merlin looking for an assistant in his latest experiment.

 

He shakes his head. What counts as mundane in this place is chaos to anyone else – and he wouldn’t want it any other way. It has taken a long time for him to admit that. He spent so long standing in front of everyone, shielding them from danger, he forgot to look behind and see what he was protecting. Stopping to smell the roses just made you an easier target. Conditioning is hard to break – even harder when you did it to yourself.

 

So every day he sits out on the balcony, or leans, or stands, and appreciates what he fought so long and hard for. It doesn’t matter what state he’s in; he comes out here and just… appreciates. Once, he was so injured after a Heartless attack, even Aerith had trouble patching him up. She tried to confine him to the Infirmary, so he bribed Yuffie with his desserts for a week and she smuggled him out using a wheelchair and a tablecloth.

 

Today he isn’t injured. He climbs the stairs under his own power, rests his elbows on the handrail and closes his eyes. Someone is having a barbeque. A burst of laughter and tinny music reach him. Far away, in the mountains beyond the badlands, a wyvern calls. The animals are coming back to this area after Maleficent drove them away. Life is returning.

 

A sound like tarpaulin snaps above his head, followed by a thump next to him. He doesn’t open his eyes. He doesn’t need to. Here is the other reason he likes to wait out here – easy access for fliers.

 

“Nothing to report.”

 

“Good.” He never used to sound this relaxed. Funny how things change.  

 

“I don’t like it.”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s too quiet.”

 

He finally opens his eyes. Cloud’s are trained on the horizon, searching for danger. He’s a few steps behind in this, but he’ll catch up. Eventually.

 

“Maybe. Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses.”

 

“The rose garden is overgrown with strangling-creepers.”

 

“The barbeque then.”

 

Cloud blinks, not understanding. Was he always this literal? Something hurts deep in his chest, but it will turn out okay in the end. Just look at himself.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

He exhales slowly. “Quiet isn’t always a prelude to an attack.”

 

Cloud waits a beat. “Whatever.”

 

Leon smiles.

Comments

[euphonious-glow.livejournal.com]

Wow, do I love this. I like its take on the theme. Great character study of Leon, and how he compares to Cloud. Very well done.

[obabscribbler.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much.

[06seconds-left.livejournal.com]

Terrific! I love how your Leon has finally managed to look past his cynicism and relax a bit. (Probably more than Squall ever did, I'm sure.)

“Maybe. Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses.”

“The rose garden is overgrown with strangling-creepers.”

And Cloud not understanding is entirely believable. XD Great job!

[obabscribbler.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^_^

[iki-teru.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love all the little details in this, and the repeated line of he sits out on the balcony, or leans, or stands and the sense of Leon losing some of that tension he carries around

and then the little exchange between him and Cloud just had me snorting my soda across the computer screen ♥ but it's totally worth the clean up