Author: Lipstickcat
E-mail: [email protected]
Fandom: FF8
Pairing: Irvine/Squall, Zell/Nida
Rating: G
Summary: Fun in the snow
Web page: http://www.geocities.com/lipstickcat
Warnings: - None
Disclaimer: They�re not mine
Notes: This is the same universe as the Games series, (Cat�s Cradle, Play Ball and Tag), you don�t have to read them to follow this though. The beginning started life as a 15min fic, I liked the idea, if not the original story, so here it is padded out a bit� There�s going to be a second part to this�
For Emerald Gaze ^_^
***
The snow ahead of them was fresh and crisp. Undisturbed. Squall felt a pang of something, embarrassment maybe, flip through his body. They�d been tracking a monster and they�d lost it. *He�d* been tracking a monster and had lost it, to be more precise. His mind pointed out in a sarcastic tone that Laguna was beginning to rub off on him. On the plus side though, at least it was impossible for him to get them lost; they had left a trail of footprints behind them in the freshly fallen snow.
The monster that they were hunting down had been breaking through Esthar�s normally effective barriers and attacking the suburbs on the outskirts of the city. It had left many homes in rubble and many people had been hurt by its attacks, a few killed. The people of Esthar had lived such sheltered lives, they had no battle training at all. Laguna may have earned himself a reputation as a laid back President, but he didn�t appreciate it when his townsfolk got eaten. He had enough sense to not attempt to tackle the creature on his own and had instantly called Squall and asked for Garden�s aid in disposing of the monster.
Since the war that had become Garden�s main job; cleaning up after the lunar cry. It was more than just wiping out the monster population. Many of these �unnatural� beings had become part of the planet�s eco system years ago. It was up to Garden, and several teams of scientists, to keep the monster population balanced now. Apart from weeding out the faster breeding creatures, Garden was mostly called out to hunt down monsters that were causing damage to settlements.
Most of Squall�s ever expanding unit had joined him to help Laguna. Everyone had wanted to come. Everyone loved Laguna. The plan had been to split up into pairs and threes, so that they could cover more of the harsh, vast area surrounding the city. They were looking to find the monster�s nest, not engage it. They would then meet up again before attacking it as a team.
Squall had gone with Laguna. He had insisted on leading their small party of two. He�d been sure that he�d found its trail, but it had fizzled out on this vast plain of undisturbed blinding white. He hadn�t even noticed at what point the unmistakeable swishing disturbance of snow had become smaller, more like an animal's tracks. It was embarrassing that he couldn�t tell the difference. He was sure that the original tracks had been the creature�s. It must have crossed paths with the animal he was currently tracking, and he hadn�t noticed. Monsters don�t just vanish, or he was at least pretty sure that this one didn�t.
He was ready to turn back and admit defeat, when something hit him hard on the back. He spun around, instantly spreading his legs for balance as he raised his Gunblade ready to fight. He gazed out over the area in front of him, but all he could see was Laguna bent over, scraping up a handful of snow. The President straightened and lobbed the snowball. It hit Squall squarely in the chest, powdery white bursting away and feathering coldly over his face. He was glad that he�d zipped his jacket up so that it hadn�t melted against his t-shirt.
�Laguna. Stop it.�
Laguna pouted and began to scoop up more snow.
�I said�� *Whumpth*
It wasn�t that Squall suddenly saw red; it was more like a flaming orange light lit behind his eyes, the glow rapidly getting hotter until he lost control of his emotions. He bent down, a strange angry adrenaline thumping through his body, and gathered his own ball of snow. He returned fire, hitting Laguna�s shoulder. Laguna laughed, completely oblivious to the malice behind the snowball, and threw another one back. It whizzed over Squall�s head as he bent down and shuffled forward to find more fresh snow.
The young SeeD didn�t notice as the white snow cooled his anger and soothed his frustration. He forgot that he was upset with Laguna for fooling around when they were in the middle of a serious mission. He forgot that he was angry with himself for making a mess of tracking the monster. For a few minutes, he wasn�t a soldier. He was a son having a snowball fight with his father.
***
Irvine was talking with Zell at the pre-arranged meeting point on the outskirts of the city. He and Selphie had got back first, having come to a natural wall of sheer mountains that they couldn�t climb. Zell, Xu and Rinoa had arrived not long afterwards, Selphie had almost instantly taken Rinoa and Xu back into the city, in search of someone willing to prepare warm food for the brave party who were there to defend them with their lives. Selphie could be shameless when she wanted something and wasn�t afraid to lay on a guilt trip to get hot food from a reclusive Estharian.
Irvine and Zell were waiting for the others to return. He had a clear view over Zell�s shoulder as two figures appeared in his vision, their dark clothes were stark against the pastel backdrop of blue tinged snow and grey rock and misty mountains long before it was clear who they were. He watched them approach, relieved to see them return safely. Fear was part of the job; any of his friends could be killed at any time, he knew he couldn�t complain, it was their trade after all, but it didn�t stop his heart from freezing until they were all back in their safe little group again. Neither he nor Zell had found the monster they were searching for, which meant one of the other parties was likely to find it.
As soon as the colour of their clothing became clear against the dazzling white, Irvine knew that it was Squall and Laguna, but as they drew closer, he could make them out better. He stopped talking abruptly and began to walk out to meet them, Zell following a few paces behind. Both approaching men were out of breath and looked slightly dishevelled. Irvine broke into an awkward run on the slippery ground: They�d encountered something.
Squall was surprised by Irvine running to greet him, but he didn�t pull away as the cowboy grabbed his hands and pulled him to him. Irvine studied his lover�s face, concerned cobalt eyes searching for any signs of injury, any new scars. He cupped Squall�s face with his hands, releasing the Gunblader�s hands to fall and rest against his chest.
�What�s wrong?� Squall frowned, completely bemused.
�Are you OK?� Squall nodded slowly at Irvine�s question. �But, why are you�? You look like you were in a fight��
A small smile spread across Squall�s face.
�Oh. We had a snowball fight.�
One of Irvine�s hands, fingertips so warm against his cheek, moved away to stoke and smooth the brunet�s ruffled hair. Irvine chuckled at his own overreaction.
�You had a snowball fight? Without me?�
�Yes, and his underarm lob really hurts when it hits.�
Irvine jumped at the unexpected voice. His heart pounded once against his ribs, his stomach flipping as a guilty feeling spread through him. He wrenched himself away from Squall. He�d forgotten that Laguna was there. No matter what Squall thought of the man and the situation, Laguna was his father. Irvine had just been all over the Gunblader, in front of his dad. He couldn�t even begin to describe how wrong that felt.
/ Does he know about us? Does he care? He knows me, he knows my reputation. What must he think of me? My dirty paws all over his son� And Squall, I�ve just about outted him to his father. Stupid dumbass hick. /
He felt like banging his head against a wall, or digging a hole in the snow and hiding in it. He wanted to tug the rim of his hat over his eyes, but he would face this like a man. He turned to face Laguna, made stomach turning eye contact. Laguna opened his mouth to speak to him.
�Nida!� Irvine was initially glad for the interruption, but Zell�s cry hadn�t been one of joy.
The three of them followed Zell as he ran further out onto the snow spattered rocky plain. Quistis and Nida were returning, and neither of them looked well. Nida was bent over almost double, the only thing keeping him upright was his arm that Quistis held around her neck. They stumbled as they walked, Nida�s right leg dragging behind him, leaving a pink trail in the white scattering of snow.
As they drew close, Quistis stopped, obviously unable to move any further. She spoke quietly to Nida, her free hand stroking matted hair back from the Asian pilot�s face. Her expression quavered as she registered Zell approaching.
�We ran out of healing magic,� she was breathless and her voice wavered in distress.
Irvine made a move towards the injured pair, his hands delving into his pockets for a spare hi-potion. But then Zell rushed forward and Irvine stopped.
/ No. If anyone�s going to help Nida, it should be Zell. /
Zell pulled off his fighting gloves as he covered the few paces to his partner. Irvine could hear the leather tear as he tugged the second one off and dropped it to the ground without a thought. He laid his hands on Nida�s icy face and let his eyes drift shut. Curaga flowed from his fingertips; a strong warm light that cast a greeny blue tint across the two figures, bathing their faces in a radiant glow. Nida pulled away from Quistis and fell into Zell�s arms, a sound somewhere between a sigh and a moan escaping his lips. The turquoise light remained a little longer, seeping away from Zell and sinking into his partner, the colours seeming to swirl across his skin before blending away, saturating into his veins to quickly be carried throughout his body.
Nida opened his eyes and all he could see was bright blue sparkles watching him expectantly. Warmth wrapped around his body, flowed through him. He didn�t hesitate to capture the lips of the other, so close to his that he could feel moist pants of breath brushing his mouth.
Irvine turned away to give the pair privacy. He understood. He knew how hard it was to see a friend injured, they all did, but more than that he knew how hollow it could make you to think that you might lose the one you love.
Laguna was handing Quistis a phial of hi-potion, which she eagerly downed. The President smiled at her as a similar, but not exactly the same, radiance flooded through her body. He glanced over at Nida and Zell and smiled at them too. Then he turned to Irvine. His mouth opened. Irvine could see the pink of his tongue, the beginning of a sound as he commenced to form a word. His hands began to rise in a gesture.
Suddenly there was a shrill cry that rang through the air and bounced off the nearest mountains, threatening to bring an avalanche with it. Selphie bounded into view and pounced on Laguna, greeting him with her usual enthusiasm, as if it wasn�t only a couple of hours since she�d last seen him. Laguna looked briefly irritated, but if Irvine had really seen him scowl, it had quickly melted away into laughter. She offered him something wrapped up in paper and he took it from her happily as she moved on to offer another wrapped item to Quistis, then Squall.
By the time she reached Irvine, the smell of hot pastry had reached his nostrils. The smell was rich and warm and his stomach gurgled as it reminded him that he hadn�t eaten in hours. He took the greasy wrapper from his friend and took a hearty bite. The pastry on the outside was crisp and flaked in his mouth to make way to a melted chocolate filling that was gooey over his tongue.
�Get a room!� Irvine looked up to catch sight of Selphie playfully whapping Zell on the butt, as he still immersed himself in Nida. The pair pulled apart slightly and smiled at her. �Oh! Nida! You have blood on your face! Are you OK?� she produced a petite white handkerchief from somewhere, spat on it, managing to look dainty even as she did so, and stood on tiptoes to scrub at the pilot�s temple.
�I�m fine, now,� Nida pulled a face, but politely bore the enthusiastic clean up. �We found the monster. It's dead, but it put up a fight.�
Selphie slapped his wrist.
�Silly boy. You shouldn�t fight monsters on your own. I bet you scared poor Zell to death!�
Nida apologised and bit his tongue. It was easier not to go into detail about not having a choice, and not being alone when he was fighting it. And to be honest, he wanted to spare Zell the details; he could see the crystal tears in the corners of the blond�s eyes.
�Well, if we�re all here, we should head back,� Rinoa clapped her hands together and started to walk backwards. �There�s a few people in Esthar who want to thank us and there�s soup and cake and hot chocolate getting cold while we�re standing around doing nothing. If we don�t hurry, Xu might eat it all!�
As a mass, the group began to walk. The pastries were nice, but the thought of a hot, substantial meal was appealing. Irvine picked up his pace so that he could walk alongside Squall. The Gunblader greeted him with a smile, then craned his neck to look at the half finished snack in Irvine�s hands.
�Mine had custard filling,� Squall carried a small, tightly screwed up, ball of paper in his fist, �what�s yours?�
�Chocolate.�
�Mmm� Let me have a bite.�
Squall took his hand, and brought it up to his mouth. He held it there as he took a big bite, then kept it there even after he�d taken it. He turned his head slightly, a small smile flickering across his face, his eyes fluttering shut in mock pleasure. A crumb of pastry remained on the cushion of his lower lip and he slowly caught it up with his tongue and drew it into his mouth.
Even as his hormones stirred at the purposely erotic display, Irvine could feel a pair of cerulean eyes burning into his back.
�Irvine,� the cowboy jumped at the sudden voice behind him, �can I speak to you for a moment?�
Squall took the pastry and released his hand with a shrug. Irvine fell back reluctantly until he was at the rear of the group, alongside Laguna. Their pace continued to slow so that they were some distance behind the others.
�I know what�s going on between you and Squall, Irvine,� Laguna kept his voice low. Irvine felt a flutter in his gut. �I�m not a complete idiot. Contrary to anything my son tells you,� he smiled grimly.
�I�m sorry, I never meant�� Laguna held his hand up and Irvine fell silent instantly.
�I�ve only really known him recently, but even I can see the changes in him. He seems happier, more relaxed, around all of us. He *played* with me earlier. Can you even imagine how that made me feel? I thought I�d missed that, I thought I�d blown any chance of having a father-son relationship. But I think in time we�ll get there,� Laguna placed a heavy hand on Irvine�s shoulder, the cowboy jumped, even though his qualms were beginning to subside. �If you continue like this, if you make him happy, you have my blessing.�
Irvine was quiet for a while. A smile began to break out on his face, cracking wide, almost becoming a soft laugh.
�So, like, do I get to call you �Dad� now?�
Laguna chuckled and watched Squall finish off Irvine�s chocolate pastry.
�It would be nice if one of you did, eventually.�