My Dad, Your Dad - Part 3
One more part and this little ficlet should be over. ^^
Part 1 , Part 2
In a flurry of movements Squall has Tidus shoved out the door and against Jecht, all the while pulling his own flesh and blood inside the room and slamming the door. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Squall tires to calm his nerves in an attempt to let his words make sense when speaking to Laguna. When he opens his eyes to direct his attention at the much older man he realizes that concern filled eyes are glued to him. Squall huffs, “I’m fine.”
Laguna shakes his head, doubting that that’s the case but letting the issue slide knowing Squall’s walls are up higher than normal. “Then you won’t object to letting me cook dinner.”
The younger brunet turns his head to the right, refusing to meet his own father’s eyes as his fingers wrap tightly around the doorknob. His head throbs with the thought of something fatherly coming out of this visit, anything about a chance of bonding making him want to just slam his head against the wall he’d be better of talking to. “Fine....”
Laguna claps his hands together and strides closer to Squall, one of his hands falling on his son’s shoulder in an attempt to show that he does care. Squall shrugs away from the pat and moves away from the door, letting Laguna exit. He can hear as his Dad heads down the stairs with Jecht in toe, both trying to debate what is for dinner. The door opens a little farther and Tidus winds his arms around Squall’s waist, his head resting between the brunet’s shoulder blades.
“Why didn’t you want them to come?”
“....It’s annoying.”
Tidus backs away from the hidden answer, not wanting to pressure any further and upset the brooding man. He simply reaches down to lace his fingers with Squall’s, tugging him back toward the stairs. Just as he does Squall tugs his hand away from loving fingers. “I’ll be down in a minute.” Tidus hurries downstairs to help the two men dubbed with the job of cooking later, not wanting them to destroy the kitchen at least without him. A heavy sigh slips from Squall’s lips as he leaves Laguna’s guest room, heading to his own that he shares with Tidus.
Before doing anything he heads for his dresser to grab a pair of socks and then in the closet to grab his boots, so if anyone says anything he can say he was getting his shoes on. The brunet strides directly over to the bedside table, pulling out the bottom draw just as he kneels down. The thoughts running through his head stay just that, in his head, not even a sliver of them shining out through his eyes as he checks to make sure a small, round, white box is still resting in the back of the drawer. Content with the fact that its there he sighs once again at the thought of not being able to give it to Tidus while the two buffoons are staying with them.... he knows if he does it’ll be a big mess and that’s exactly what he wants to avoid.
“Hiding ain’t gonna do ya any good.”
The rough tone makes Squall nearly jump out of his skin, shoving the drawer shut with the toe of his boot as he stands back up. “Is dinner decided?”
Jecht crosses his muscled arms over his chest, eyes staring straight through Squall as he turns around. “Yeah, well, Laguna needs ya to take him up to the store.”
As the dark haired man begins walking away Squall heaves a small breath of relief, glancing back down at the drawer before leaving the safety of his bedroom to venture down to living room where Laguna waits. The excited man rushes his son out the door the second his feet touch the first floor, practically dragging him out the door with his ramblings of what needs to be gotten and what he’s making.
Tidus slumps down onto the couch the instant the door shuts and he can hear the engine of the car starting, “Ha, got out of that!” The blonde suddenly glances toward the staircase as Jecht begins up them, “Where ya going old man?”
A hand musses at the back of ebony tresses, “Don’t worry bout me boy, gonna go make sure you didn’t just chuck my bags around.”
Tidus lets it slide with the shrug of his shoulders, lying out across the couch with his feet dangling over the armrest on one end and his head using the other as a pillow. A yawn breaks past his lips as he stares up at the ceiling, happy for the quiet peace before hell breaks loose once again. Especially if this is only day one of the two they’ll be here; having arrived late Saturday and not planning on leaving till early Monday morning.
Tidus doesn’t even realize he’s fallen asleep until Squall shoves the front door open, heading straight for the kitchen with Laguna right at his heels; their hands grappling at several bags of goods. Disoriented the blonde glances around and falls off the side of the couch, not remembering being on one in the first place. He sits up straight just as Jecht slouches down beside him, the TV flicking on in front of them as feet find their way to crossing on the edge of the coffee table. Leaning on his armrest Tidus almost wishes he was the one in there helping cook dinner.
In a matter of time and nervous laughter fluttering out of the kitchen, the two finally have dinner cooked albeit some of it is more done than other parts. Squall leaves the kitchen to retrieve to the blitzball pros, “Dinner’s ready.”
Tidus immediately jumps up from his poor posture and darts for the kitchen, knowing that they won’t be using the dining room to eat in since it’s still being painted and furnished. Jecht rises and before Squall can get to far away from the couch, Jecht latches his fingers around Squall’s left upper arm. He’s yanked back toward Jecht with evident force from his small stumble, eyes going wide as Jecht holds out a small round object in his palm. The white exterior makes a lump form in the brunet throat instantly at the fact he’s been caught. He turns his head to lock eyes with Jecht only to see a large grin on the older man’s face.
“Tell me kiddo, when were you planning on showing this off?”
Squall grits his teeth together, “You went through my things.”
“Hey, I gotta watch out for my boy. He’s not exactly the smartest bulb oughta the box. Now I support you, that brat needs-”
“He’s not a brat.”
“Look I just need to know if you’re serious. I’m not having some brat mess with him, that’s my job.”
The conversation suddenly drops to silence as Tidus appears back into the living room. He raises an eyebrow at the two, “What’s going on?”
Squall takes the opportunity of Jecht’s attention possibly slipping to try to grab the round box. Jecht sees it coming as he automatically raises his arm and throws the orb of a box toward Tidus, the blonde catching it without even trying. Squall pries his arm out of Jecht’s grip as Tidus opens it, legs freezing midstep as Tidus inhales sharply at the sight of a simple silver band. Tidus’ brow furrows with confusion, “You... want to.... marry me?”
Jecht rustles Squall’s hair with his other hand on his hip, “Whataya say kiddo? Or do you think you’re not ready?”
Just as Tidus opens his mouth to give an answer Laguna strides in, wiping his hands on the apron to get some sauce off his fingers. “Squall?”
The brunet, visibly drowning and possibly about to explode, shakes his head before marching over to the door. It slams hard and causes Laguna to cringe; the man throwing an arm out to stop Tidus from going after Squall.