"I thought the plan was for you to take this up to Squall." Kiros said, eyeing the cup of coffee that he held.

Laguna fidgeted. "I know and I tried but he won't let me in so I thought you could try."

The dark man raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think he'll let me in over you?"

Laguna patted his friend's arm. "Just try please." He gave his friend the puppy dog eyes look; he received a sigh and a smile for his efforts.

"Fine I'll try."

"See if he's okay."

"I have to get into the room first."

Laguna nodded, standing in the doorway fidgeting, he watched Kiros leave and continued to watch him until he disappeared from sight down the corridor.

Kiros walked up to the room Squall was staying in and knocked on the door.

"Go away!"

"Squall? It's just Kiros, I brought you a drink."

Silence.

"Squall? Can you let me in?"

The door opened a fraction and a pair of cold eyes studied him through the door. "Drink?"

Kiros held up the cup. "Coffee."

The brunette made a face. "I already have drink." He moved to shut the door but the older man put a foot in the way and braced it with his hands.

"Go away!" The brunette swaying with effort to hold the door and stay steady on his feet.

Kiros pushed the door hard causing Squall to have to let go to grab the wall to prevent falling to the floor.

The older man picked the cup up off the carpet and walked inside. He shut the door behind himself, setting the cup on the surface near the door.

Squall glared at him. "What are you doing here? Laguna tell you to check on me?"

Kiros ignored the question. "Isn't it a bit dark in here?"

All the lights were off and the curtains were pulled, with the dark blue walls the room looked very dark. He could make out the dark shapes of furniture and what looked like cushions on the floor.

"Why don't we put the light on?" He reached for the switch but Squall stopped him, reaching out and grabbing the other man's arms.

"No, no lights! They make my head hurt." He rubbed his head with one hand.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Don't." The younger groaned, walking along the wall for support to help along his wobbly legs. Kiros watched him until he ran out of wall and couldn't reach the couch. The brunette slowly let go of the wall and took a couple of dodgy steps towards the couch. He shook his head to clear his vision then groaned, pressing a hand to his cheek.

"I shouldn't have done that."

"Here." The older man reached out to take one of his arms to aid him. Squall pulled away roughly, the action making him lose the little balance he had left and would have plummeted into the rug face first but the older man caught him with an arm around the waist to support him.

"Come on." He said, leading the drunken man to the sofa. "You know you should really go to bed."

"I don't want to."

"Hmm." He put Squall on the sofa, watching as the brunette groaned again and flopped back on the couch, head back eyes closed.

Kiros smirked. "Why is it always me that gets stuck looking after the drunks?"

Squall opened his eyes in acknowledgement.

The older man went to get the cup of coffee and set it on the low table that stood beside the sofa.

"You don't know how many times I've been stuck taking care of Laguna and Ward after a night out." He eyed the half empty bottle on the table and sighed.

"I don't think that's going to help you." He sat up slowly and went to reach for it.

Squall sat up suddenly and lunged for the bottle, they grabbed it at the same time.

Both men had two hands on it.

"Squall let go!"

"No!"

"Squall?!"

"I want it, it makes me feel better."

"Maybe but you'll feel like hell tomorrow."

"I don't care."

They fought over the bottle; Kiros removed one of his hands to peel Squall's fingers from it.

"No!" He protested as his grip on the glass slipped. Kiros took the bottle and stood up. Squall tried to follow but one push from the other man and he fell back down to the sofa.

The brunette turned round on the sofa to see the other man disappear into the bathroom and heard him pour the rest down the sink.

"That cost me 15 gil."

"Tough." He left the empty bottle beside the sink and sat back down on the sofa.

Squall glared at him and folded his arms. "I'm not talking to you again."

"Good, that'll make my life easier." He picked up the cup and inched closer to Squall. "I want you to try and drink some of this."

Squall wrinkled his nose.

"Come on, half a cup will do." He sat sideways and forced the cup into the brunette's hand.

"Please? Just try it."

The brunette frowned but accepted the cup and took a sip. He made a face. "That's nasty."

"All of it."

"You're mean." The younger man accused.

Kiros chuckled, watching Squall drink the rest of it, pausing between mouthfuls to grimace. He handed the empty cup back to Kiros who set it on the table.

"I think you should get some sleep."

"Are you done bossing me around?"

Kiros smiled. "No, not yet. I think you should go to bed and sleep this off."

"Bed?" Squall looked towards the bedroom. "But that's so far away."

The dark man stood and held his arms out. "Come on I'll help you."

Squall gripped the older man's wrist and pulled himself up from the sofa. He almost fell down again. "Whoa!" He leaned towards the other man and fell into his arms, clinging to him to avoid hitting the floor.

The dark man looked down into the mop of hair and trying to untangle the brunette's limbs from his own.

The two half walked half stumbled to the bedroom and Squall was dumped onto the bed. He lay width ways across it and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight." He muttered. "I'll sleep here."

"Don't you want to get under the covers?"

Squall blinked at him and swung his legs that hung off the edge of the bed as he felt Kiros remove his boots.

Squall sat up and let the other man help him with his jacket. He giggled drunkenly. "That tickles."

The jacket was removed and hung on the back of a chair. Squall drooped onto Kiros' shoulder and closed his eyes.

The dark man moved a shoulder in an attempt to move Squall instead the brunette pressed closer, nuzzling his nose into Kiros' throat.

"Okay." The older man pulled back the covers and tried to push Squall down into the bed. The drunken man had a good grip on him. "No, don't wanna move."

"Squall."

"No, me stay here, it's comfy here."

"You have to move I will want to left soon." He told the brunette softly.

The mop of hair shifted and Squall pulled back a little so they were face to face.

"Go to sleep." Kiros told him.

"But-" He inched nearer.

The older man's eyes widened in panic when Squall kissed him lightly, maybe a friendly kiss but on the lips and lingering.

Kiros pushed him away instantly in shock. The brunette hit the pillows and stayed there. The dark man peered at him, seeing that the brunette had passed out.

He sighed in relief and raised a hand to touch his lips. He blinked, getting up and covering Squall up with the blankets as best he could then turned and left feeling quite bewildered.

The first thing he was aware of was that his head hurt, his head hurt a lot. He rolled over under the blankets and hid his eyes as if he could hide from the pain. He felt uncomfortable for some reason after running a hand down his body his suspicions were confirmed he still had his leathers on. Squall frowned, normally the most he wore in bed was a pair of boxers and sometimes he didn't even bother with them.

He remembered the party, being chased around by annoying girls. He grimaced.

The memory of announcing his sexuality at the top of his lungs came back to him and he groaned; he was never drinking again ever.

Reluctantly he pushed the covers off himself and sat up slowly with a groan of protest. He covered his face with his hands before getting up off the bed, wobbling slightly leaning on the bedside cabinet.

Squall hobbled into the bathroom and stripped down, locking the door behind him. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and grimaced. He looked terrible.

The brunette leaned on the sink to peer into the mirror, he still got the scent of alcohol and looking down he saw the empty wine bottle.

That's right. He remembered Kiros pouring it down the sink. He frowned as he turned the shower on. Kiros. He had a funny feeling about him maybe he had had a dream about him or something.

Squall turned on the hot water and stepped under the spray, running hands through his hair. He remembered Kiros being there last night and there was something else...

He frowned, replaying as much of last night as he could remember. He didn't recall getting into bed last night but he must have done as he woke up there. He ran hands down his face, eyes closed and it came back to him in a flash. Blue eyes snapped open. Maybe it was a dream; please god let it be a dream. He hadn't just kissed his father's best friend and the only person here to could talk to without feeling completely awkward. Well, he'd fucked that up. Kiros would never look at him again much less speak to him.

How could this happen? Never, never drinking again. Squall shut off the shower and reached for his towel tying it around his waist before heading out to his kitchen area in search of painkillers.

After much rummaging through the drawers he came up with nothing. There was a knock at the door. He glanced down at the towel around his waist and hesitated.

"Who is it?"

"It's me; I just brought you some painkillers." Kiros' voice drifted through the door.

The brunette glanced between the door and his towel a few times in frustration.

He half walked to the bedroom to change then realized it would take too long and he could really do with the painkillers.

He opened the door and half hid behind it. "Hi." He managed.

"How'd you feel?"

"Terrible." He replied honestly.

The other man smiled and held out the packet.

"Thanks." He took the packet.

Both men stood there awkwardly in silence for a moment that seemed to last a lifetime.

"Right- well-umm- I should- should go... to work." Kiros explained.

"Yeah." Squalled muttered, watching him leave. "Bye." He half whispered.

He shut the door and slid down it to the floor.

"Never drinking again."

tbc

Return to Archive | next | previous