To the Winner #3

By Sukunami

[Squall]

Gnawing lightly on the cap of my pen, I try to sort through the numbers on this latest page of meaningless crap.  Ah, the joy that is budget season in which everyone tries to wring out their share of the Esthar Garden cash flow.  While there are certainly the more logical requests for a larger budget, the rest is just bullshit from department heads wanting the extra money to play around with.  And I don't even want to touch the packet given to me by Penya, a girl who is a clone of Selphie in spirit.  Or maybe it's a simple case that all the people who are in charge of Garden activities hold that nearly obsessive urge to make everyone celebrate on occasion.  Anyhow, her budget isn't going to be a small one, but at least it should be the most interesting of the lot.

There's the quiet whisper of the side entrance opening, and after slashing out requests for ridiculously expensive computers, I look up to stare at Seifer questioningly.  Unbothered by my gaze, the large blonde moves to one of the chairs in front of my desk and sits down with his typical boneless sprawl.  When he continues to do nothing more than smirk back at my glare, I lower myself to starting the conversation that I probably don't want to hear in the first place.

"You have a class now."

The smirk widens.  "Nope.  It's a holiday."

How in the world can he say that and make it sound like I'm the idiot for not knowing the obvious.  "And what holiday is it this time?"

"National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day."

Eyebrow raised, I stare at him.

His expression turns to one of mock hurt.  "You think I'm making it up.  I'm crushed."

I scoff.  "Knowing you, I'm certain that it does exist, but that doesn't mean anyone actually celebrates it by taking the day off."

"I don't think so.  I bet lots of people do."

"Name one."

"Me."

Resisting a roll of the eyes, I say, "Name another."

"You."

I spare a look of 'whatever' at him before turning the page to skim over the next list of absurdity.

"Come on, Squally-boy.  We deserve a day off.  I haven't seen you outside of Garden in fucking ages."

"Ten days," I correct him while writing overly large zeros along the current page.

"Squa-all," he whines as he leans forward over my desk, attempting to gain my full attention.  "Come celebrate with me.  I know how much you worship good dark chocolate.  It'd be unholy for you to work on a chocolate holiday."

The corner of my mouth twitches up into an almost smile.  "'Unholy'?"

He grins.  "Or something like that."

Finishing off that packet, I set it aside before grabbing the next one.  "I'm not taking the day off."

Seifer sighs, finally convinced that I won't be swayed.  "Alright, but then how are you going to make this up to me?  I've been looking forward to this for months."

Which in his terms probably means around a week.  "I'll make a bet with you."

He straightens at that.  "I'm listening."

"By the end of today, if you can find one other person - one credible person - who is celebrating this holiday of yours," I look up into his eyes, "I'll join you."

The blonde hums, obviously pleased by my suggestive tone of voice.  "And what do you mean by credible?"

"Someone you didn't pay to tell me the joys of cherries.  No owners of candy stores.  And no students either.  Too many of them follow your lead."

"Alright, alright, I think I follow you.  So, what happens if I don't find someone?"

I wave the papers in hand towards the rest of the unfinished stack.  "You get to help me with the budget forms, which you should be doing anyway, Commander Almasy."

He shrugs, unbothered about shirking yet another one of his duties.  "Sounds like a deal to me, though I don't know if I care for your condition of credible.  You could shoot down my every choice and make yourself the winner."

I grin.  "I could."

Seifer laughs as he stands up from his chair.  "Guess I better get hunting, then."  He pauses, then glares down at me.  "Or is this just your way of ruining my hard earned day off?"

My grin widens slightly.

"Manipulative bitch..." he mutters.

Before Seifer has the chance to move far from the desk, there is a quiet click from the intercom.  "Sir, the President of Esthar is here to see you."

"Let him in," I say, and then glance at Seifer as I stand.  He shrugs, the silent reply to my question of why Laguna could be showing up this time.

The entry door slides open, the long-haired man striding in with his typical energy and disarming smile.  "Good morning, Squall.  Ah, and you're here, too, Seifer?  Don't you two spend any time apart?"

I interrupt the crude remark that I can practical see forming in Seifer's head.  "Morning, Dad.  Is there something I can help you with?"

Laguna makes a tsking noise as he continues forward into the room and steps around my desk.  "You should know better than to talk business with me straight away.  Now, greet me properly," he says while wrapping arms tight around me.  Sad how it's reflex at this point to return his hug.  "How are things, son?  Everyone feeling well?"

"You were here only a few weeks ago."

He finally loosens the hug, and then looks at me with warm eyes.  "So?  I can still worry about my family.  Especially with the lot of you wrapped up in this mercenary business."

I shake my head in amusement.  "What did you want?"

"Always to the point, aren't you," he sighs.  "Well, I was hoping to get your permission to steal my grandson for the day.  Of course, you both are welcome to tag along."

"He has classes..."

Seifer scoffs.  "Oh, lighten up, Squall.  The cub can take one afternoon off from classes.  Not like they'd matter much with him starting Garden courses in the fall."

I ignore the blonde and focus on my father.  "Why are you here anyway?  Don't you have a country to run?"

The older man grins far too broadly.  "Didn't you know?  It's a holiday."

"A holiday," I repeat incredulously.

"Yeah.  National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day.  There's a corner of town that should be selling loads of chocolate today, and this year they are planning on various street performers for the kids.  I thought Isan would enjoy it."

I continue to stare at my father, my only thought being that Laguna should hardly count as credible for anything.

"Squall--"

I cut off Seifer, not wanting to hear a word of gloating from him.  "Get out of my office and go have your fun.  I have work to finish."

Eyes closed, I savor the vague breeze that accompanies the opening of the door.  Even with all of Esthar Garden technically being 'home', there's nothing that can ease my nerves like stepping inside our suite.  The sound of deep breathing makes me open my eyes and I look into the dimly lit room.  At the sight of socked feet sticking out from over the couch armrest, I smile vaguely as I toe off my shoes.

Stepping lightly, I move around the couch and look down at the large man stretched out along dark cushions.  Slowly my smile widens as I take in the sight of a small figure curled up at his side, Isan clutching tightly at his father's shirt as if demanding the man to stay put.  I wonder what excuse the boy used this time to skip his bedtime and wait up for me instead.  I'm tempted to laugh at the idea that both father and son failed at staying awake.  It must have been a tiring day.

With a careful touch, I brush fingers along Seifer's forehead and lightly toy with rebellious strands of blonde.  Seifer shivers at the contact, his eyelids then cracking open as he stares up at me.

"Squall...?"

I nod at the sleepy question.

"Fuck...  What time is it?"

I shush him.  "Get Isan to bed."

That wakes him up fully as he glances down at the dark-haired boy resting on his chest.  "Damn, he wanted to tell you about today.  He isn't going to be happy in the morning."

I breathe a chuckle at the thought of Isan doing his version of the Almasy pout.  Like father, like son.  "I'll wait for you our room."

Grinning that all knowing smile of his, Seifer carefully sits up while pulling his sleeping child into his arms.  With a fluid grace that he doesn't like to show, the blonde stands up from the couch without disturbing Isan in the least.  As he heads to the furthest doorway in the suite, I go to the bathroom to clean up a little.  A short while later, I step into our bedroom wearing the boxers and large sleeveless shirt that I prefer sleeping in.

Already sitting on the mattress, Seifer laughs lightly.  "You know, that used to be a favorite shirt of mine."

Eyebrow raised, I ask, "And why do you think I stole it?"

He grins, and then holds out a box to me.  "Happy Chocolate Covered Cherry Day."

I take the offering and glance through the clear lid to see the assortment of large chocolates.

"They're handmade and really good.  Isan and I already went through a box of these."

"Hnn, and the real reason why Isan was up comes through."

Seifer winces.  "He had dinner first, and he really did want to tell you about some of the street performers.  He absolutely loved this one stupid animal act.  This guy had one of his dogs colored green to look like Carbuncle.  I felt bad for the stupid mutt."

As he talks, I remove the silver ribbon from the box and drop it to the floor.  The action immediately silences the blonde as he looks at me with an interested gaze.  When the plastic lid follows the ribbon to the ground, Seifer smirks and leans back onto his elbows.

"And what does my little ice princess have planned for tonight?"

"It's not midnight yet, and I believe we have a holiday to celebrate."  Removing a dark chocolate from the box, I bite into the candy.  Hyne, these are good.  Licking the thick juice from my lips, I tell the staring man, "Get rid of those clothes."

After a hazy moment, Seifer blinks back to the present and hurriedly removes his shirt and shorts.  Only then does he realize how eager he is making himself look.  Attempting to appear nonchalant about it, he stretches out lazily before slowly sitting back down on the mattress while making certain to have everything visible to my examining gaze.  Damn him for being perfectly justified with his confidence about his body.  Finishing the single chocolate covered cherry, I lick my fingers clean as I step up to the bed.

"Lie back fully," I tell him, my voice already coming out rough.

He pushes back to rest against the pillows, his bright eyes then following my every action as I move up onto the mattress and straddle his thighs.  Stealing another candy of lighter chocolate this time, I then set the box aside before meeting his heated green gaze.  The eye contact never breaking, I gently bite the bottom of the candy such that the thick base comes off as a chocolate wafer in my mouth.  Biting that in two, I remove the halves from my mouth and set one on each of his nipples.  Seifer arches slightly at the action, him probably already imagining how I plan to remove the dark treat.  But that comes later.

Carefully such that the cherry doesn't fall out of its chocolate cup, I pour the sugary juice along his tight stomach, making certain that a decent drop falls into his navel.  That done, I scoop the cherry out of its holder with my tongue, and then turn over the chocolate cup to fit it over the redden head of his arousal.  The chocolate shell splits partly, but the thick juice should keep it in place long enough.

Moving off of his lap and then stretching out along his side, I lean up to draw him into a kiss.  He hums, first licking my lower lip with a heavy press of his tongue before allowing me the deep kiss I wanted.  The sugar sweetened cherry passes between us several times before I remember that there are other things that need to be done.  I press the cherry back into his mouth one last time before pulling away quickly.  His eyes half-lidded in pleasure, he smirks at me while chewing the small fruit.

Returning the smirk, I then move to his chest to where the chocolate halves have already melted slightly, one slipping a little from its previous position.  Tonguing that chunk of chocolate, I run the melted piece of sweetness around his nipple several times before I begin to clean off the dark mess I've made.  I repeat the move on the other nipple, and by then, a large hand has raked deep into my hair and tugs lightly whenever I hit just the right pressure as I use my teeth on the chocolaty nipple.

From there I move lower along his body, lapping up the sugary juice that has dried some.  I take special care removing the stickiness from his skin, much to Seifer's annoyance as he tries to coax me lower with his hand and by shifting his body.  But that's nothing new as I ignore him and continue at my own pace.  Reaching his bellybutton, I suck out the sweet juice and dip my tongue into the cavity to clean it thoroughly.  Seifer shivers beneath my touch, then exhaling a shaky breath along with a rather creative curse, and I've heard plenty of them.

Done with play, I move to the very erect, obviously needy penis topped with chocolate.  I can't resist licking my lips at the sight.  Careful to not further break the chocolate shell, I gently mold the slightly melted darkness with my mouth such that it fits firmer on the head.  Pulling back for the moment, I then move lower to lick up a couple trails of chocolate with the very tip of my tongue.  Only once Seifer reverts to calling me 'Leonhart' do I return to the chocolaty tip, easily taking in a large portion of his length as bitter sweetness glides along my tongue.  With increasing pressure, I draw in more of his erection, as well as force harder breaths out of Seifer.  If there's one power I could get drunk on, it's this control over the proud and confident man.

Watching and listening to the man's reactions with a trained ear, I can easily sense the ending point to all of this.  With careful fingers, I slip beneath tight balls and press up against that tender point of his a short distance in front of his anus.  A strangled cry sounds just before heated fluid floods into my mouth, carrying with it an odd flavor that shouldn't taste as amazing as it does.

"... fuck ... fuck ... fuck ..."

I smile amused as I return to my previous position of lying next to the larger man and rest my head on a shoulder.  Hyne, I love how hot his skin is directly after his release.

"Oh, no.  We're not ending it there."

Already feeling sleepy despite my partly hardened arousal, I glance to the side and watch as Seifer reaches for the forgotten box still filled with plenty of large candies.  He takes one of the chocolate covered cherries and then moves his body such that I lose my pillow.  Before I have the right mind to complain, Seifer places the candy between his teeth and leans down with the clear invitation to share the piece of chocolate.  The kiss is a messy one of various sweet flavors, it distracting me such that the large hand taking a hold of my erection nearly makes me choke on a piece of cherry.  Seifer doesn't allow me the spare moment to get an easy breath, the rough hand knowing exactly the right stroke and pressure to drive me crazy.  It doesn't help that he refuses to let up on the deep kiss.  It's simply too many sensations at once and my release is a far quicker one than Seifer's had been.

I slowly arouse from my daze and immediately try to glare at the grinning man.  "I didn't want to come in freshly cleaned boxers."

His grin widens just before he wipes his hand on me.  "Looks like there's something on your shirt, too."

Grumbling quiet obscenities about irritating blondes, I roll off of the bed and take off the stained shirt as I walk out of our room and head into the bathroom.  The clinging boxers are the next to go.  Turning on the tap to the shower, the water heats quickly before I step beneath the warm flow.  As expected, Seifer soon joins me in the shower.  His hand cups my chin and forces me to turn my head back towards him for a kiss, it tasting of the chocolate he probably snagged before following me here.

"You know, I thought the deal was that you'd join me for the whole holiday."

Leaning back against him, I close my eyes to better feel the light touch of his fingertips stroking along my hips and thighs.  "Never said that.  We celebrated your holiday and that's that."

"Hn, but it would've been nice having you with us today.  And what took you so long, anyway?  I was expecting you hours ago."

"Wanted to finish those budgets."  I grab a hold of a wandering hand that was too close to starting another session of sex that I don't have the energy for.  "This way I can sleep in."

"Mmm, that sounds perfect."

I smile faintly, knowing full well how much Seifer loves a lazy morning.

"Hey, I was thinking... how about we take a vacation before Isan starts his training?  A real one."

Taking a deep breath, I suppress the sudden rush of emotions at that reminder, that we'll have to start treating our own son like any other SeeD cadet.  At least Seifer will have the chance to see him in class once Isan is old enough to start weapons training.  Meanwhile, I'll only have the occasional sightings in the hallways, if that.

"... Squall?"

"I'll make the arrangements for the beach house.  But I can only afford a few days..."

"It would still mean the world to him.  You've been busy lately."

"Hn."

After some time of silence aside from the water flow of the shower, Seifer squeezes my hand.  "So, since you're planning on sleeping in anyway..."

"Not happening."  I turn around to face him and wrap my arms around his neck.  "It's past midnight and I spent fifteen fucking hours on budget forms.  You'll just have to wait until next year," I tell him, and then kiss lightly at the corner of his mouth, licking away the faint trace of chocolate.

"Well, you know," he starts before stealing his own quick kiss, "it's now Maid Appreciation Day.  So, if you would get dressed up in that maid's outfit--"

"Save the dreams for when you're sleeping, Seifer."

He laughs.  "Just you wait.  I'll have you in a skirt one of these days."

"Whatever..."

{Owari}

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