Series: Final Fantasy VIII (8)
Pairing: Zell Dincht & Squall Leonhart
Theme: 30 Kisses #19 - Red
Status: completed one-shot
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Notes: The drabble is a bit OC, but the plot was difficult for me! Sorry! I also took some liberties in making up the cityscape in Galbadia.
That day was rapidly approaching. The commander polished his gunblade faster and faster, fuming silently ever since he noticed the girls were giggling at the opposite corner of the room, eyeing him every so often. What was up with girls and that day? What was so special about the death date of a few men anyway? If anything, it should be a morbid day, not a day filled with pinks, reds, and fawning girls. Nothing about that day appealed to him.
Sitting next to him was his impatient teammate, arms crossed and tapping his foot at a rapid pace. Zell had his eyes glued on the giggling girls and his lips pursed in a frustrated frown. His thoughts echoed Squall's, as if they were thinking the same things. Why were those girls so happy anyway?
Irvine laid back languidly across five chairs he had lined up in a row so that his long body would be completely suspended off the floor, and he hummed a tune quietly with his cowboy hat covering half his face. Peeking from the side of his hat, his gaze shifted back and forth from the three girls and the two guys sitting in opposite corners. He smirked at what the girls might have been talking about and thought about how lucky he was to be "stuck" in a team with three girls. Well, two other guys too, but they didn't matter.
It was just his luck that they had only enough money to rent one room at the Galbadia hotel, so everyone was stuck in the same room for the night. Usually, he took for granted having two rooms, one for the girls and one for the guys, but tonight in particular, he wished long and hard for someone to miraculously produce enough money to get another room. There were enough sleeping spaces for everyone, two beds and plenty of floor space. It was already decided that the girls would take the beds, however they would arrange it wasn't his concern, and the guys were to sleep on the carpetted floor.
"Would you guys give us just five minutes or silence??? You've been talking ever since we got the room!" Zell shouted louder than he needed to, which startled the girls.
"Girls! We're girls, Zell, and we're keeping our voices down. Why don't you go out if you want peace and quiet, I'm sure that parade out there is quieter than us," Selphie retorted, then turned right back to their hushed conversation.
Zell threw his arms in exasperation and shot a look at the girls, who paid no further attention to him. "Oh fine! You better be quiet by 22:00, because that's when I want to sleep!"
The brunette pushed his bangs away from his face and pocketed his polishing cloth. "Let's check out the city, we could see if our contact is available to meet us tonight," Squall said to Zell, whose eyes widened with gratitude. Squall turned to Irvine to extend his request, but before he could say anything, Irvine raised his arm in the air and waved.
"Tell me how the parade is too, I'm going to stay here with the girls," he said with a grin hidden under his hat.
"Fine, we'll be back before 22:00 for sure," Squall said curtly at the girls before exiting after Zell, who wasted no time in holding the door outside for the other man.
The giggles instantly got louder when they shut the door, and both Squall and Zell winced. Gunblade in hand, Squall headed down the stairs with Zell at his heels and out of the hotel. The sidewalks were filled with stationary pedestrians who were watching the bright lights of the parade rolling down the street. The night air was crisp and cool, but there was also a certain warmth because of all the people there. Squall motioned towards the pub and started weaving through the crowd, and Zell followed wordlessly. There was no way they could talk out here, since their voices would be drowned out by the blaring music of the parade floats anyway. Along the way, Zell admired the colourful costumes of the dancers who twirled this way and that on the moving platforms and wondered if they were hot or cold, since they were wearing skimpy layers but dancing so actively that they probably weren't cold. The gleeful shouts of children and adults alike filled the air and rang like bells along with the happy instrumentals that were playing on a sound system that was installed on the lampposts all along the street. Squall wasn't paying so much attention to the parade as the gaping people that filled the sidewalks. He was having difficulty getting through the swarm of people and hoped that Zell wasn't too distracted and still behind him.
After a good five minutes of navigating the crowd, they finally reached the pub at the end of the block. Once they stepped inside, the aroma of alcohol assaulted their senses, but the few people inside were all sober. Squall scanned the faces of the entire room's occupants in less than ten seconds, but their contact wasn't there. If she was here at all, she was probably outside watching the parade, and searching for a stranger in the masses on the streets was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Well she's not here," Zell said a little downcastedly. "Since we're here anyway, why don't we chill until the parade's over? It's quieter here than in our room anyway." He shrugged but looked to the brunette for a response.
Instead of saying anything, Squall walked over to the bar and took a seat on one of the swivel stools. The blonde followed suit and took a seat next to him. A slender, middle-aged man wearing a plaintiff waiter outfit walked over to them from the inside the counter, drying his hands on his white apron.
"What can I get you gentlemen, hm?" said the barkeep. Down at the other end of the black bartop was a couple chatting away animatedly. Squall wondered if they were excited about that day too, and the thought made him shudder.
"A mixed fruit cooler," piped Zell.
"Soda water," muttered Squall without the slightest change in his facial expression.
"Coming right up," said the barkeep, who did a quarter turn and walked off towards the fountains and bottles of liquor.
He couldn't help but bounce a bit in his seat. It had been a while since he had any alcohol, since it was strictly forbidden while they were on the job. But since they couldn't find their contact tonight anyway, now didn't count, and a cooler was very low in alcohol content anyway.
"Here you are, a mixed fruit cooler for you, and a soda water with a cherry for you," the barkeep said cheerfully when he brought the drinks over. "It will be 20 gil, and I'll keep a running tab for you until you leave. That sound good?"
Squall nodded, but Zell was already sipping on his cooler bottle like a kid sampling candy.
"Say, fellas, why aren't you watching the parade? Heck, I would be if I weren't on duty tonight. Saw the entire run last night and I wanna see it again! It's the best parade in Galbadia yet!" the barkeep said to Squall, who looked at him as though he weren't listening at all. "Oh, and I forgot to say this. I'm Letty and I'll be your barkeep for tonight. Whatever you fancy, I've got it right here!"
"I'm good with the soda water," Squall said in a flat voice.
"So I see," Letty replied then cast a scrutinizing look at Zell, who finally stopped admiring his drink. "I've never seen your faces around here before, are you new or just passing through?"
"We're just passing through. Hey man, I watched the parade for a few minutes before we came in, it's pretty awesome! The dancers are crazy, dancing out there in the cold like that!" Zell said in awe while Squall started on his soda water.
"Yeah they are, all Galbadian dancers too, they are. So what business do you have here if you're not here to see the parade?" Letty asked Zell and motioned at Squall.
"Ehh, our business is our own, sorry pal. Nice place you got here though," Zell said.
"Thanks! Well, it's not really my place. I usually work the day shifts, but since the parade is going on at night, the owner wanted to see it so she's letting me run this joint alone tonight."
Squall was listening to their conversation and sighed when Letty told them that the owner of the pub, who was their contact, was definitely out for the night. Maybe he should have gotten alcohol instead.
"So what are you guys doing alone in here at this time of night? No lady friends?" Letty winked.
"Oh they're back at the hotel. They were too noisy so we came out for, uh, a walk," Zell responded, grumbling a little when he thought about the three girls giggling away.
The barkeep narrowed his green eyes at Zell, then glanced back and forth between him and Squall. "Uh, you mean you two are a couple then?" he asked cautiously.
Although he wasn't listening very attentively, Squall suddenly choked on his soda water.
"What? This guy?" Zell sputtered with the most ludicrous look on his face.
"No," Squall quickly added after Zell spoke.
Letty laughed. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you there, I was just wondering what you two fine young men were doing alone since all I've seen lately are couples in here. My apologies."
"It's okay," croaked Squall, who stole a sideway glance at Zell. The blonde was doing exactly the same thing, actually, and they both started when they made eye contact.
"Oh look, more customers, if you'll excuse me. If there's anything else you gentlemen want, just give me a holler," Letty said quickly before walking off to attend a couple that sat down in a far corner.
Chuckling weakly, Zell fiddled with his cooler bottle but didn't drink it. "Haha, that was weird," he said.
"I hate Valentine's Day," Squall muttered and downed the rest of his soda water in one gulp, then slammed the mug into the counter.
"Whoa there, he didn't mean anything by that," Zell reassured Squall, but Squall seemed absolutely ruffled at that moment.
"This whole day revolves around girls. If there's no girls around, people automatically start giving you looks," he grumbled as he fished for his wallet and produced twenty gil.
"Yeah, well, it's only normal, I think. Hey, you want to leave already?"
"Let's go," and with that, Squall placed the gil on the counter and whirled off his seat.
"Um, okay," Zell said and followed Squall. Letty waved at them and Zell waved back, but Squall headed straight out the door.
"Hey what's up with you, chill will ya?" Zell caught up to Squall and placed a hand on his commander to keep him from leaving him behind.
Instead of resisting, Squall immediately stopped and turned towards the parade. "Let's watch the parade."
"Sure...?" Zell said confusedly but let go of Squall and watched him for a moment. Squall seemed entirely sincere in his words too and was indeed watching the parade, so the blonde shrugged and turned to watch the parade as well.
The colours rolled by them in slow motion, pinks and reds littered every float as the dominant colours although there was an assortment of many others. Amongst the blaring music on the street's sound system and the clamour of the crowd, Squall and Zell stood in silence, just watching the parade. Every so often, Zell would take sip from his cooler, which he took with him. What he did not know was that Squall was watching him out of the corner of his eye.
"Zell?"
"Huh, did you say something?" Zell turned to face the other man.
"Will you be my valentine?"
Zell's mouth dropped open, and Squall held his breath.
"W...what?"
Squall exhaled and turned back to watch the parade. "Nevermind."
"No wait! I mean, yes! Oh Hyne did I just say that, YES!" His eyes lit up like the lights on the parade floats, and Squall turned back to him. There was no smile on his lips, but yet, there was a smile in his eyes. The street's commotion seemed to stop, and Zell could hear his heartbeat pounding in his skull. Nothing in his training could have prepared him for that moment.
Right before the world resumed its tempo, Squall leaned in and kissed Zell on the lips.
"Am I... dreaming?" Zell stammered when he was suddenly aware of how hot his cheeks were. Was it the alcohol?
Squall took the cooler from Zell's hands and took a sip before returning it to him. "This is good, I think I'll get it next time," he said, a quiet laughter in his voice. Not only had his anger completely left him, but the world suddenly seemed so perfect.
Zell was a bit shaken, but when Squall reached out and took his free hand, everything seemed normal again, except not.
"This parade is awesome," Zell said when he calmed down and returned to watching the parade. He felt Squall squeeze his hand when a float with a giant heart saying "BEE MINE" in bold red letters and bumblebees rolled on by.
"Yeah, and Valentine's Day's not that bad afterall."