Title: The First Thing You See Author: Frog Fish Rating: Not suitable for children under the age of 13 Pairing: Squall/Zell Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of Square-Enix. They are used here for entertainment purposes only. Status: One-Shot (And, thus, complete). Notes: Vignette, kinda short. Sort of a hello the shiny community I've just joined. Hello, community! *waves* Summary: Squall doesn't have to angst at all. Not that he ever would. "Are you gonna be an asshole all day?" Squall continues reading Quistis' report and ignores the shuddering of the cafeteria table as Zell bumps into it while pulling his chair around. He seats himself and faces Squall and looks at him as though he expects an answer any time soon. There isn't really a safe way to answer that question. At least, not without having to admit to far too many weaknesses which Zell will immediately and unknowingly take advantage of. Squall makes it halfway through the next tightly detailed paragraph before Zell surrenders to his impatience and punches him in the shoulder. "Would you look at me?" Squall obeys, eyes as blank as he can make them, and hopes that Zell will be satisfied. "Great. Now, will you talk to me?" Squall raises an eyebrow and waits for further instruction. "About last ni--" Zell cuts himself abruptly off, then looks around suspiciously before leaning forward and continuing in a whisper. "About last night, I mean." Squall shift uncomfortably but doesn't drop his gaze. He shrugs. Zell reaches over and takes the report from his hand, and Squall is scowling now which seems to please Zell immensely. "I don't want you ta get distracted. This is important." Squall waits. "Now. I woke up alone this morning. Two hours late for work which is, I think, your fault. 'Cause I reset my alarm yesterday morning and no one /else/ was around to shut it off." Squall frowns. "Look, I know you get up early and everything for work and stuff, but you coulda woken me up and said goodbye." Zell looks accusingly at him until Squall squirms and makes a grab for his report. Zell slides it further down the table and bats Squall's hands away. "Uh uh. Explain." Squall sighs. "You looked tired." It's Zell's turn to frown, "I /was/ tired. Which is also your fault." Squall is not blushing, and if he looks away, then Zell won't be grinning either. Zell takes a look around the nearly abandoned cafeteria again, and then leans into Squall. His chair teeters on two legs until his lips are inches away from Squall's ear. "I was... beat, man." Zell is breathing into his ear, and Squall can only suppress a shiver by reminding himself that it's only air. "Is this what you wanted to discuss?" he can't quite figure out how he got from point A, where he was stoically avoiding his best friend until they both inevitably agreed to pretend nothing had happened at all; to point B, where Zell is apparently flirting with him, and not in the least bit concerned for the longevity of their friendship. Zell leans, if possible, a little closer, and his bottom lip brushes against Squall's jaw, "It's a little bit like what I wanted to talk about, yeah." Squall stands abruptly and winces as Zell over balances and falls with a heavy crash to the ground. A few students glance over and giggle while Zell rubs his ass, which shouldn't hurt at all because he'd fallen on his /face/, and Squall blanks his expression. He steps over his friend and grabs the errant report, then beats a hasty retreat from the mess. - - - "That was really rude, man. Matron would not be proud." Squall frowns at Selphie as Zell lets himself into his office behind her. She twists in her seat and grins up at the martial artist, "What'd he do?" "Left a fallen comrade behind, baby. Didn't even offer first aid!" "Oh, really? That doesn't sound like the commander." "First aid?" Squall can't help but ask. "You were fine." "I really needed someone to kiss it and make it better." He pats his ass dramatically and Selphie chortles madly. Zell seats himself in the empty chair beside her and makes a show of squirming uncomfortably. Selphie makes kissy noises at him, and Squall can see that her debriefing will go nowhere so long as Zell is present. "Why are you here?" "I wanted to finish our talk." "Zell..." Selphie sighs with the last of her chuckles and glances between them. "We finished, Commander?" "No, Zell can come back later." Zell looks hurt for a moment, but quickly recovers under Selphie's curious look. "Sure. Later. Around six?" Squall nods and waves him away, waiting until Zell lifts himself out of his chair and leans over to deliver a smacking kiss to Selphie's cheek. "Later, baby." Selphie makes a face and wipes her cheek as the door closes behind him. - - - It's seven thirty before Squall shuts off his workstation and pushes his chair back from his desk. He's closing the door behind him before he realizes that Zell never came back for their talk. A part of him is disappointed, but he silences it and heads for the elevator. - - - He's more than a little surprised to find Zell leaning against the wall next to his quarters, but it most likely doesn't show. Zell looks up from his shoes and his gaze is heavy and serious for a heartbeat before it turns warm. "I figured you'd rather talk in private, since you kept putting me off all day." Squall frowns and moves past him to punch in his code and open the door. Zell follows him inside and Squall waits until it closes before pressing Zell up against it. They're about the same height until Squall grips Zell's hips and pulls him up until his feet are barely touching the floor. Squall buries his face in Zell's neck, and he can tell from here that Zell's eyebrows are doing their best to climb into his hair. "Wow. I... eh -- " Squall shuts him up by opening his mouth and licking the exact same spot on his jaw that had driven him to incoherency the night before. "Uh." Squall's licking transforms itself into sucking and, if possible, Zell tastes more wonderful right now than he did this morning. He'd still been asleep and Squall hadn't been able to help himself from taking one, last kiss. "I'm sorry." "You're totally forgiven. For what?" Zell wheezes, and then his legs spread a little and Squall shifts closer and doesn't answer right into Zell's mouth with his tongue. "Numph Mandhth," Zell mumbles into their kiss. Eventually, they make it to his couch. Much later, they make it to bed. - - - The next morning, Zell is snoring into Squall's pillow, and he really /does/ look very tired but also happy. Squall doesn't let it stop him from waking the boy up to say good morning.