(no subject)
Who: Squall and Selphie... still!
What: Squall's lost his restraint, Selphie's stressed, they're yelling and it's scary ;_;
When: Following this. LJ was not being nice so we finished it over AIM.
Where: Library.
Rating: PG-13ish.
It was Selphie's turn to slam her fist on the table, and she did with a force that belied her small frame. "No! Not until you show me that you can handle it! You're not going to do anything constructive with what I tell you, so I'm not going to bother!!"
Selphie's eyes stung, and she wasn't sure if she was going to cry or not. Her feelings were hurt. Her throat felt tight. "Lucky?" She choked, as if she didn't believe what he was saying. It was obvious he had no smart comeback or retort, that he was just grasping at straws. But it still hurt.
However, it was the next comment that made Selphie's eyes water. It made anything else she was going to scream at him die in her throat. Was this how he really felt? Was friendship and caring about someone else that much of a burden? Was he really this cruel?
She found her hands shaking as he turned, and in his brief moment of hesitation Selphie had grabbed her water bottle and thrown it at him without thinking. The next moment she had crumpled back into her chair, hands over her face as she cried without restraint. The stress of the CPVC, recent events, and finally this had finally caused her to crack.
Selphie was right. Who was he? Was this really how he was? All of a sudden he didn't feel like himself-at all. The things he was saying… Yeah, he was scared, and yeah, he was tired of it, but-
Too late for regret. Way too late.
The water bottle smacked him in the ear and jaw. It felt like someone had cuffed him. He spun back around, one arm unconsciously flying up to deflect further blows. He opened his mouth to yell at her, to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing, he hadn't even touched her and-
Stared. For a very long time, standing with his arm still in the air, his expression one of pure shock. Crying? Selphie was crying? Why? Because of him? He had actually driven her to crying? He recognised that he probably not the only factor, but that didn't change the results.
The fight went out as everything caught up with him and took its place. His arm dropped to his side and he took a step forward. What was he supposed to do? This was probably another one of those times where an apology was warranted, but he thought it wasn't going to cut it. Besides, he couldn't speak. He swallowed, shoulders dropping as he stared at the space between his boots.
"…I'm sorry."
Selphie couldn't remember the last time she had really cried. The Garden Festival mess had called for some tears, and for some reason she could recall crying when Trabia Garden was destroyed. But nothing like this, at least in the past year or so. Nothing that actually made her chest hurt, and she certainly hadn't cried in front of anyone. That just wasn't her. She was Selphie, and Selphie Tilmitt didn't let anything get her down or get under her skin.
Well, that was a lie. Try as she might to stop or to respond to whatever Squall had said, she couldn't. Selphie curled up into the chair and attempted to hide her face, but it was pointless-she was already openly crying. Realizing that she was crying in front of Squall almost made her cry more.
She wasn't all that mad anymore. Just sad that things were as they were, and sad that they had fought. Friends didn't do that.
Okay. Plan A? A complete failure. Now what?
Squall drew in a deep breath, shifting his weight uneasily, and feeling like the hugest asshole in Paradisa. Which was saying something, he considered ruefully, when there were so many of those. But he had never had to comfort anybody before in his life and didn't know where to begin.
Time to try again. "I'm sorry." He hesitated then continued awkwardly, verbally stumbling, "I shouldn't have said that." No, he really shouldn't have. What he said next he didn't plan on, but it was already out. "I'm scared, but I didn't want to hurt you."
He had to keep talking; had to try to get rid of that awful sound. The feeling in his stomach came back, that one he'd gotten during their Triple Triad game and he'd said something careless. Except this was bigger.
Words weren't enough? Sure, they were bad enough. Physical things were even worse… and here he was, almost shyly shuffling over, close enough to touch her. He did so, a careful, faint hand placed on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he repeated lamely, voice low.
Selphie gave a little jump at the touch, as if she hadn't heard him approach. Which was true-she was busy trying to focus on his words and stop herself from bawling like a baby.
He was trying, and that meant a lot to her. He had apologized three times and had admitted that he was scared, and that made Selphie cry a little more. She must really be a mess! A few mumbles came out from behind her hands as she cried, until a few words managed to free themselves as well.
" 'm sorry, too," she said, "D-don't feel bad…" Which seemed incredibly ironic when she did-she didn't mean to hit him with that water bottle or hurt his feelings, either.
Seriously, what the hell was wrong with him? Watching and listening to Selphie cry, knowing he had helped it by acting in the melodramatic way he detested…
I don't know if I can fix this. My only real friend and this place, and I blew it because I freaked. The fingers of his right hand curled to fit her shoulder and he crouched beside her chair, afraid to do anything more, like hug her. In his mind, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that she'd push him away and hit him again.
"You didn't do anything wrong," he said quietly. He shrugged uncomfortably when she told him not to feel bad. He couldn't help it. He felt rotten. "Whatever." He cringed. Probably not a good idea to say that. "Uh…" Come on. I don't want to make this worse. "…I…" He cleared his throat, squeezing her shoulder gently. "…I want… I want us-" What do I want?
"…I want us to be friends." It came out as lamely as his last apology, but only in tone. He meant it. Again, more came out without thinking. "You're all I've really got." With Rinoa there were too many other things factored. Selphie was the only thing he was relatively sure about. "I don't want to lose you." He couldn't keep himself from saying it, but he still felt weird afterwards-like he said something wrong, something that was too much.
Selphie's sobs abruptly stopped when she sensed him crouch. Oh man, he really WAS trying, and he really DID feel bad. Selphie listened to him fumble for what he thought were the right words, face still hidden as she sniffled. She needed a tissue…
There wasn't anything Selphie really wanted to hear, but what he said made her finally look at him. Now she looked a little tired, her eyes red and bangs a mess. "Really?" It was good to hear. She could tell he meant it, but she was surprised that he would actually say it. "I don't wanna lose you, either."
Selphie's face slid back beneath her hands and she rubbed at her eyes. The crying wasn't quite done, but she was able to breathe and it wasn't so loud. "Can…. Can I ask you for something?"
As Selphie stopped crying, Squall snatched his hand back, almost guiltily. He looked away, feeling like he should give some semblance of privacy, even if it wasn't needed.
"…Um." He looked back at her, face expressing his bemusement and awkwardness clearly. "…Yeah, really." When she returned the sentiment, he put his hands on his knees and looked at the floor. "…okay…" He didn't blush or anything, but felt like he wanted to hide. This day was shaping up to be the most embarrassing ever.
He looked back up when he thought he could meet her eyes, feeling she deserved that much. "What? Want me to jump off a bridge?" he asked. "Go hang outside for a while?" Dark humor. He needed it badly right now. Then he shook his head. "What?" It couldn't possibly get any worse.
Oh, but it could.
She smiled a little. "No, just let me punch you, okay?"
No, not really, but Selphie let that settle in for a few moments before looking down at her knees. "Can I have a hug?"
She felt a bit selfish-the poor guy had been through enough emotional traumas in one day-but she just really wanted a damn hug. "I promise not to cry on you or anything, it's just…" Selphie felt herself shrink a little in the chair. "I need a hug, as stupid as that sounds."
The one from Leon earlier in the day didn't count. That had just given her a heart attack, though it was thoughtful and Selphie appreciated it for that.
Yeah. It was worse.
At first, Squall shrugged and said, "Sure." But that was in reply to her first supposed request. "…Just don't hit my ear or face." He reached up to rub where the water bottle had hit him. The redness was only now just starting to fade.
Except that wasn't what she really wanted, was it? "A hug?" he echoed dumbly. He watched her silently for a few moments. Part of him felt stifled, but he had to remember he'd made a fool of himself when Selphie had only been trying to help.
If it made her feel better… Well. It wasn't going to kill him, was it? He'd just said he wanted to be friends with her. Friends hugged all the time. He blanched at the idea of hugging all the time-and relaxed when he remembered Selphie knew enough about him where she wouldn't do that. She hadn't so far.
But-
Screw it.
"Yeah," he said. "You can have a hug." He shrugged, his mouth briefly twitching into a shadow of a smirk. "Don't worry about it." He gestured at his jacket's collar. "Moisture doesn't hurt it." Then he shifted his position, something like shy all over again.
Selphie turned a little red when she realized she had actually hit Squall with the bottle that hard. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you with it!" Well, she had, but she didn't mean for it to hurt. … okay, she did, but she regretted it.
She was a little amused that he agreed readily to her punching him, but a hug got the hesitation she expected. "Just one, I promise, and it won't hurt or anything." Selphie quickly rubbed at her eyes again before carefully wrapping her arms around Squall's neck and giving a firm squeeze. The fur collar kind of made him seem like a teddy bear! A really moody teddy bear that liked to whack things with a gunblade.
Afraid Squall would freak out at the awkwardness, Selphie tried to make a joke: "You know, I could totally snap your neck right now…" That would have sounded rather creepy if her voice didn't squeak from the previous sobbing. "… wow, a hug from Leon and then from you…? I must need a vacation…" If the whole world wasn't going to explode in the next few moments.
Squall's eyebrows lifted slightly. "You were aiming for someone else," he said. "Right." He shrugged it off.
Odd as it was, he could understand her frustration, and being punched in the shoulder or something wasn't a big deal. …Maybe. Depending on how hard she decided to do it, anyway.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but Selphie was already hugging him. He froze, automatically tensing. Theoretically he knew where to put his hands; he just couldn't make himself move yet.
"…Please don't," he said, consciously affecting a wry tone. This was weird. It didn't hurt, yeah, but… "Him, too, huh?" He cleared his throat and licked his lips. "Well…"
Well. Slowly, so slowly it was as if he expected her to pull back and punch him after all, Squall folded his arms across her back. After a couple seconds he relaxed a little and he gave her a gentle, experimental squeeze.
Well, again. "After all this is over," he suggested, "you should." His hold tightened and he mumbled, "…sorry. Guess you won't be asking me if I want a break again anytime soon."
"Stop apologizing already, I'll cry more," Selphie mumbled, but there was a hint of truth to it. Then it dawned on her that she hadn't really responded to it much before. "It's okay. I forgive you, but next time I warn you that I might get really mad~" She managed a weak laugh and tried to squeeze him tightly as if to prove that she wasn't joking. Which she hopefully was.
"I think we've got to be pretty good friends to be able to yell at each other like that and then not storm off in a huff, right?" Selphie shrugged lightly, careful not to hit Squall in the jaw or anything with her shoulder. "It was going to happen sooner or later, and… well, I kind of feel better now, after letting it all out. How about you?"
"Okay," Squall agreed hurriedly. The last thing he wanted was Selphie to start crying again. He wouldn't be able to handle it. "Fair enough. I'll make sure there aren't any objects you can throw." But then Selphie could just use her fists, and that might be worse. "…Maybe I just better not tempt you." Smart plan, that.
He thought about it for a while, more comfortable with the hug as the seconds went by. "…I think I wanted you to yell at me," he finally admitted, a little surprised. "That's why I didn't leave." Was that the only reason? "And I was kind of hoping you'd be able to help." He shrugged a little, too. "I don't know. I think I'm too emotionally drained to feel much of anything."
He frowned, turning his head slightly to meet her gaze. "…You think something's wrong with me?" Such an easy opening for a joke, but he was completely serious now.
Squall wasn't the only one surprised. "Yeah?" Selphie thought about this. He wanted her to yell at him? That was a first. "My throat hurts, thanks." She giggled, meaning that she really didn't mind. "I hope I helped, though. I wanted to, even if I don't have the best answers to everything. Close enough!"
Selphie pulled back slightly to look at him. She frowned. "I'm… not sure. You seemed a little off before. Just seemed kind of odd to me!" A little too open for Squall. "But as a whole? Nope, I don't think there's anything wrong with you." She smiled honestly.
… but Selphie was never one to let a good joke slip by. "Except for a weird love of belts."
"Yeah. I don't know…" Was it just for confrontation or had he been hoping she could talk some sense into him-and he knew yelling might be the only way to get it through to him? "Whatever."
He blinked and got "sor-" out before he remembered what she'd said. And then she giggled, so that was all right. "…You-" He thought about it. "…A lot of what you said makes sense." At least now, when he could look at level-headedly.
"Off how?" he asked. Then he frowned. "It's not weird and it's not love. I thought I told you why." Apparently he couldn't take a joke.
She rolled her eyes, though he might not have seen it. "I'm going to smack the next person that says whatever to me."
"I tend to do that sometimes!" Selphie said, "And I hope you remember what I said because I sure don't. It all just kind of came out!" She hoped that she hadn't called him an ass or anything, because she was definitely thinking it.
"Hard to describe… but when I asked if you were okay, you told me you weren't and exactly why you weren't okay, and that's not something you usually do." Sure, after enough prodding he would eventually spill, but he wouldn't enjoy it. "And I'm kidding, Squall! Relax!" He sure was defensive!
"Whatever." Squall winced. Why the hell hadn't he stopped himself?
"I guess so…" he allowed. "Yeah, I do." And he'd do well to keep remembering it-if only to prevent it from happening again. "…Do you remember what I said?" Looking back, he was surprised she hadn't done more than throw a bottle at him. Sort of. On the other hand, it was surprising. But that was because he didn't know her as well as the other way around. Was she prone to violence? Hm.
"Ah." He frowned again. "…Maybe it's just getting to me. Still dumb." To make an understatement. As she reassured him that she was only joking, Squall glanced at her sideways. "I was kidding back." …weird sense of humor.
Selphie sighed, breaking off the hug and giving Squall The Look. She then was true to her word-or at least partially, as what she did was more of a light thwap to the cheek rather than a smack. "I warned you~"
She then remembered how badly she wanted to punch him a few minutes ago and smiled. Lucky him!
"Yeah, I remember that part," Selphie admitted. "I'm not mad, though." Not anymore, anyway. She couldn't really be mad at him for voicing his thoughts, even if she didn't agree with them.
"I don't think so. But hey, I've been running off coffee and candy for a while so maybe that's just getting to me?" She shrugged, and then laughed. "Sure you were~"
Dropping his arms, Squall prepared himself for being smacked. When all he was practically a tap, he blinked. "Yeah… But was that a one-time only thing?" Just let it go. But this was almost like playing around and it was a refreshing change from earlier.
"Mm…" He grimaced. Even if she wasn't mad, it still sucked. He wasn't going to apologize again, but… He just hoped she understood.
"Maybe…" He thought about it, drumming his fingers on his knees. No way would he figure it out now; too tired. He looked at her, his gaze softening a little. "When's the last time you slept?"
"Guess you'll find out, huh?" But even if it wasn't, she'd probably forget about it eventually. Or just randomly smack Leon when he said it.
Selphie did understand, but she didn't want to think about it too much. If things went really badly with the Ganados, all this stuff would seem pretty insignificant. But Selphie remained optimistic: the Ganados would be taken care of somehow, and then they could dissect all the stuff they had yelled at each other. Just not right now.
"… a day… ish?" She shrugged.
"Great, I can't wait." He could, actually. For a long time, even. You never know… It might escalate into full-blown smacking.
He shifted uncomfortably then stood. He wasn't used to being in that position for so long and moving around for a couple days straight screwed his muscles over.
"Get some," he said firmly, putting a hand on his hip and looking at her like he had some authority to do so. Some nerve, at least. "At least a couple hours. Things won't blow up or anything while you do."
Selphie stood as he did, a little taken back at all that had happened over the span of a few days. Heck, even the last hour or so had been a roller coaster. But they seemed okay.
"Yes, mother," She sighed, but the concern was nice. Sleep itself sounded nice. "Though I'm going to hold you to that! If I wake up and we're all dead, you'll never hear the end of it."
Selphie paused, and then added, "Thanks for the hug and the nice stuff you said, Squall. It really did make me feel better!"
Squall actually felt like he could sleep. Hopefully a whole hour, if not more. He idly wondered if Rinoa had taken the bed. Well, it wouldn't be the first time he'd slept on a floor.
"Don't call me that," he said, frowning. But at the rest, he rolled his eyes in a way that was nearly good-natured. "I'll never hear the beginning of it, since we'll be dead."
He marveled at the thanks. He'd acted like an asshole and now she was thinking him? Was a hug really that big of a deal? He almost said 'whatever' but ended up saying, "Yeah, well. You're welcome. The least I could do," embarrassedly. Yeah, sleep was definitely needed.
Selphie felt like she could fall asleep right then and there and never wake up. But she figured that would be a bad idea, considering that there were a lot of weird people in the castle and a ton of angry zombie-like people wanting to get in.
She looked at the mess they had made-half eaten food, water bottles all over the place-and shrugged again. "Bah, let the ghosts get it, I'm sleepy." And without waiting for Squall, Selphie headed towards the exit. She wasn't upset, but she didn't trust herself to walk behind him without doing something mean. Oh well. Revenge would come in one way or another.
"Yeah," he said, not about to argue. He let Selphie go ahead, following and staying a few paces behind. But when they reached the door, he opened it and stepped outside.
He hesitated there for a minute, unsure if there was some sort of protocol for this type of thing. They had a fight, made up, and now they were going to sleep so they'd be rested for a possible invasion. Definitely not in the Garden Code.
"I'll be in my room if you need me," he offered, glancing at her. "…Hope you sleep well." Then he was leaving; despite his measured gait, he still gave the impression he was fleeing. He hoped nothing like that ever, ever happened again.
What: Squall's lost his restraint, Selphie's stressed, they're yelling and it's scary ;_;
When: Following this. LJ was not being nice so we finished it over AIM.
Where: Library.
Rating: PG-13ish.
It was Selphie's turn to slam her fist on the table, and she did with a force that belied her small frame. "No! Not until you show me that you can handle it! You're not going to do anything constructive with what I tell you, so I'm not going to bother!!"
Selphie's eyes stung, and she wasn't sure if she was going to cry or not. Her feelings were hurt. Her throat felt tight. "Lucky?" She choked, as if she didn't believe what he was saying. It was obvious he had no smart comeback or retort, that he was just grasping at straws. But it still hurt.
However, it was the next comment that made Selphie's eyes water. It made anything else she was going to scream at him die in her throat. Was this how he really felt? Was friendship and caring about someone else that much of a burden? Was he really this cruel?
She found her hands shaking as he turned, and in his brief moment of hesitation Selphie had grabbed her water bottle and thrown it at him without thinking. The next moment she had crumpled back into her chair, hands over her face as she cried without restraint. The stress of the CPVC, recent events, and finally this had finally caused her to crack.
Selphie was right. Who was he? Was this really how he was? All of a sudden he didn't feel like himself-at all. The things he was saying… Yeah, he was scared, and yeah, he was tired of it, but-
Too late for regret. Way too late.
The water bottle smacked him in the ear and jaw. It felt like someone had cuffed him. He spun back around, one arm unconsciously flying up to deflect further blows. He opened his mouth to yell at her, to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing, he hadn't even touched her and-
Stared. For a very long time, standing with his arm still in the air, his expression one of pure shock. Crying? Selphie was crying? Why? Because of him? He had actually driven her to crying? He recognised that he probably not the only factor, but that didn't change the results.
The fight went out as everything caught up with him and took its place. His arm dropped to his side and he took a step forward. What was he supposed to do? This was probably another one of those times where an apology was warranted, but he thought it wasn't going to cut it. Besides, he couldn't speak. He swallowed, shoulders dropping as he stared at the space between his boots.
"…I'm sorry."
Selphie couldn't remember the last time she had really cried. The Garden Festival mess had called for some tears, and for some reason she could recall crying when Trabia Garden was destroyed. But nothing like this, at least in the past year or so. Nothing that actually made her chest hurt, and she certainly hadn't cried in front of anyone. That just wasn't her. She was Selphie, and Selphie Tilmitt didn't let anything get her down or get under her skin.
Well, that was a lie. Try as she might to stop or to respond to whatever Squall had said, she couldn't. Selphie curled up into the chair and attempted to hide her face, but it was pointless-she was already openly crying. Realizing that she was crying in front of Squall almost made her cry more.
She wasn't all that mad anymore. Just sad that things were as they were, and sad that they had fought. Friends didn't do that.
Okay. Plan A? A complete failure. Now what?
Squall drew in a deep breath, shifting his weight uneasily, and feeling like the hugest asshole in Paradisa. Which was saying something, he considered ruefully, when there were so many of those. But he had never had to comfort anybody before in his life and didn't know where to begin.
Time to try again. "I'm sorry." He hesitated then continued awkwardly, verbally stumbling, "I shouldn't have said that." No, he really shouldn't have. What he said next he didn't plan on, but it was already out. "I'm scared, but I didn't want to hurt you."
He had to keep talking; had to try to get rid of that awful sound. The feeling in his stomach came back, that one he'd gotten during their Triple Triad game and he'd said something careless. Except this was bigger.
Words weren't enough? Sure, they were bad enough. Physical things were even worse… and here he was, almost shyly shuffling over, close enough to touch her. He did so, a careful, faint hand placed on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he repeated lamely, voice low.
Selphie gave a little jump at the touch, as if she hadn't heard him approach. Which was true-she was busy trying to focus on his words and stop herself from bawling like a baby.
He was trying, and that meant a lot to her. He had apologized three times and had admitted that he was scared, and that made Selphie cry a little more. She must really be a mess! A few mumbles came out from behind her hands as she cried, until a few words managed to free themselves as well.
" 'm sorry, too," she said, "D-don't feel bad…" Which seemed incredibly ironic when she did-she didn't mean to hit him with that water bottle or hurt his feelings, either.
Seriously, what the hell was wrong with him? Watching and listening to Selphie cry, knowing he had helped it by acting in the melodramatic way he detested…
I don't know if I can fix this. My only real friend and this place, and I blew it because I freaked. The fingers of his right hand curled to fit her shoulder and he crouched beside her chair, afraid to do anything more, like hug her. In his mind, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that she'd push him away and hit him again.
"You didn't do anything wrong," he said quietly. He shrugged uncomfortably when she told him not to feel bad. He couldn't help it. He felt rotten. "Whatever." He cringed. Probably not a good idea to say that. "Uh…" Come on. I don't want to make this worse. "…I…" He cleared his throat, squeezing her shoulder gently. "…I want… I want us-" What do I want?
"…I want us to be friends." It came out as lamely as his last apology, but only in tone. He meant it. Again, more came out without thinking. "You're all I've really got." With Rinoa there were too many other things factored. Selphie was the only thing he was relatively sure about. "I don't want to lose you." He couldn't keep himself from saying it, but he still felt weird afterwards-like he said something wrong, something that was too much.
Selphie's sobs abruptly stopped when she sensed him crouch. Oh man, he really WAS trying, and he really DID feel bad. Selphie listened to him fumble for what he thought were the right words, face still hidden as she sniffled. She needed a tissue…
There wasn't anything Selphie really wanted to hear, but what he said made her finally look at him. Now she looked a little tired, her eyes red and bangs a mess. "Really?" It was good to hear. She could tell he meant it, but she was surprised that he would actually say it. "I don't wanna lose you, either."
Selphie's face slid back beneath her hands and she rubbed at her eyes. The crying wasn't quite done, but she was able to breathe and it wasn't so loud. "Can…. Can I ask you for something?"
As Selphie stopped crying, Squall snatched his hand back, almost guiltily. He looked away, feeling like he should give some semblance of privacy, even if it wasn't needed.
"…Um." He looked back at her, face expressing his bemusement and awkwardness clearly. "…Yeah, really." When she returned the sentiment, he put his hands on his knees and looked at the floor. "…okay…" He didn't blush or anything, but felt like he wanted to hide. This day was shaping up to be the most embarrassing ever.
He looked back up when he thought he could meet her eyes, feeling she deserved that much. "What? Want me to jump off a bridge?" he asked. "Go hang outside for a while?" Dark humor. He needed it badly right now. Then he shook his head. "What?" It couldn't possibly get any worse.
Oh, but it could.
She smiled a little. "No, just let me punch you, okay?"
No, not really, but Selphie let that settle in for a few moments before looking down at her knees. "Can I have a hug?"
She felt a bit selfish-the poor guy had been through enough emotional traumas in one day-but she just really wanted a damn hug. "I promise not to cry on you or anything, it's just…" Selphie felt herself shrink a little in the chair. "I need a hug, as stupid as that sounds."
The one from Leon earlier in the day didn't count. That had just given her a heart attack, though it was thoughtful and Selphie appreciated it for that.
Yeah. It was worse.
At first, Squall shrugged and said, "Sure." But that was in reply to her first supposed request. "…Just don't hit my ear or face." He reached up to rub where the water bottle had hit him. The redness was only now just starting to fade.
Except that wasn't what she really wanted, was it? "A hug?" he echoed dumbly. He watched her silently for a few moments. Part of him felt stifled, but he had to remember he'd made a fool of himself when Selphie had only been trying to help.
If it made her feel better… Well. It wasn't going to kill him, was it? He'd just said he wanted to be friends with her. Friends hugged all the time. He blanched at the idea of hugging all the time-and relaxed when he remembered Selphie knew enough about him where she wouldn't do that. She hadn't so far.
But-
Screw it.
"Yeah," he said. "You can have a hug." He shrugged, his mouth briefly twitching into a shadow of a smirk. "Don't worry about it." He gestured at his jacket's collar. "Moisture doesn't hurt it." Then he shifted his position, something like shy all over again.
Selphie turned a little red when she realized she had actually hit Squall with the bottle that hard. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you with it!" Well, she had, but she didn't mean for it to hurt. … okay, she did, but she regretted it.
She was a little amused that he agreed readily to her punching him, but a hug got the hesitation she expected. "Just one, I promise, and it won't hurt or anything." Selphie quickly rubbed at her eyes again before carefully wrapping her arms around Squall's neck and giving a firm squeeze. The fur collar kind of made him seem like a teddy bear! A really moody teddy bear that liked to whack things with a gunblade.
Afraid Squall would freak out at the awkwardness, Selphie tried to make a joke: "You know, I could totally snap your neck right now…" That would have sounded rather creepy if her voice didn't squeak from the previous sobbing. "… wow, a hug from Leon and then from you…? I must need a vacation…" If the whole world wasn't going to explode in the next few moments.
Squall's eyebrows lifted slightly. "You were aiming for someone else," he said. "Right." He shrugged it off.
Odd as it was, he could understand her frustration, and being punched in the shoulder or something wasn't a big deal. …Maybe. Depending on how hard she decided to do it, anyway.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but Selphie was already hugging him. He froze, automatically tensing. Theoretically he knew where to put his hands; he just couldn't make himself move yet.
"…Please don't," he said, consciously affecting a wry tone. This was weird. It didn't hurt, yeah, but… "Him, too, huh?" He cleared his throat and licked his lips. "Well…"
Well. Slowly, so slowly it was as if he expected her to pull back and punch him after all, Squall folded his arms across her back. After a couple seconds he relaxed a little and he gave her a gentle, experimental squeeze.
Well, again. "After all this is over," he suggested, "you should." His hold tightened and he mumbled, "…sorry. Guess you won't be asking me if I want a break again anytime soon."
"Stop apologizing already, I'll cry more," Selphie mumbled, but there was a hint of truth to it. Then it dawned on her that she hadn't really responded to it much before. "It's okay. I forgive you, but next time I warn you that I might get really mad~" She managed a weak laugh and tried to squeeze him tightly as if to prove that she wasn't joking. Which she hopefully was.
"I think we've got to be pretty good friends to be able to yell at each other like that and then not storm off in a huff, right?" Selphie shrugged lightly, careful not to hit Squall in the jaw or anything with her shoulder. "It was going to happen sooner or later, and… well, I kind of feel better now, after letting it all out. How about you?"
"Okay," Squall agreed hurriedly. The last thing he wanted was Selphie to start crying again. He wouldn't be able to handle it. "Fair enough. I'll make sure there aren't any objects you can throw." But then Selphie could just use her fists, and that might be worse. "…Maybe I just better not tempt you." Smart plan, that.
He thought about it for a while, more comfortable with the hug as the seconds went by. "…I think I wanted you to yell at me," he finally admitted, a little surprised. "That's why I didn't leave." Was that the only reason? "And I was kind of hoping you'd be able to help." He shrugged a little, too. "I don't know. I think I'm too emotionally drained to feel much of anything."
He frowned, turning his head slightly to meet her gaze. "…You think something's wrong with me?" Such an easy opening for a joke, but he was completely serious now.
Squall wasn't the only one surprised. "Yeah?" Selphie thought about this. He wanted her to yell at him? That was a first. "My throat hurts, thanks." She giggled, meaning that she really didn't mind. "I hope I helped, though. I wanted to, even if I don't have the best answers to everything. Close enough!"
Selphie pulled back slightly to look at him. She frowned. "I'm… not sure. You seemed a little off before. Just seemed kind of odd to me!" A little too open for Squall. "But as a whole? Nope, I don't think there's anything wrong with you." She smiled honestly.
… but Selphie was never one to let a good joke slip by. "Except for a weird love of belts."
"Yeah. I don't know…" Was it just for confrontation or had he been hoping she could talk some sense into him-and he knew yelling might be the only way to get it through to him? "Whatever."
He blinked and got "sor-" out before he remembered what she'd said. And then she giggled, so that was all right. "…You-" He thought about it. "…A lot of what you said makes sense." At least now, when he could look at level-headedly.
"Off how?" he asked. Then he frowned. "It's not weird and it's not love. I thought I told you why." Apparently he couldn't take a joke.
She rolled her eyes, though he might not have seen it. "I'm going to smack the next person that says whatever to me."
"I tend to do that sometimes!" Selphie said, "And I hope you remember what I said because I sure don't. It all just kind of came out!" She hoped that she hadn't called him an ass or anything, because she was definitely thinking it.
"Hard to describe… but when I asked if you were okay, you told me you weren't and exactly why you weren't okay, and that's not something you usually do." Sure, after enough prodding he would eventually spill, but he wouldn't enjoy it. "And I'm kidding, Squall! Relax!" He sure was defensive!
"Whatever." Squall winced. Why the hell hadn't he stopped himself?
"I guess so…" he allowed. "Yeah, I do." And he'd do well to keep remembering it-if only to prevent it from happening again. "…Do you remember what I said?" Looking back, he was surprised she hadn't done more than throw a bottle at him. Sort of. On the other hand, it was surprising. But that was because he didn't know her as well as the other way around. Was she prone to violence? Hm.
"Ah." He frowned again. "…Maybe it's just getting to me. Still dumb." To make an understatement. As she reassured him that she was only joking, Squall glanced at her sideways. "I was kidding back." …weird sense of humor.
Selphie sighed, breaking off the hug and giving Squall The Look. She then was true to her word-or at least partially, as what she did was more of a light thwap to the cheek rather than a smack. "I warned you~"
She then remembered how badly she wanted to punch him a few minutes ago and smiled. Lucky him!
"Yeah, I remember that part," Selphie admitted. "I'm not mad, though." Not anymore, anyway. She couldn't really be mad at him for voicing his thoughts, even if she didn't agree with them.
"I don't think so. But hey, I've been running off coffee and candy for a while so maybe that's just getting to me?" She shrugged, and then laughed. "Sure you were~"
Dropping his arms, Squall prepared himself for being smacked. When all he was practically a tap, he blinked. "Yeah… But was that a one-time only thing?" Just let it go. But this was almost like playing around and it was a refreshing change from earlier.
"Mm…" He grimaced. Even if she wasn't mad, it still sucked. He wasn't going to apologize again, but… He just hoped she understood.
"Maybe…" He thought about it, drumming his fingers on his knees. No way would he figure it out now; too tired. He looked at her, his gaze softening a little. "When's the last time you slept?"
"Guess you'll find out, huh?" But even if it wasn't, she'd probably forget about it eventually. Or just randomly smack Leon when he said it.
Selphie did understand, but she didn't want to think about it too much. If things went really badly with the Ganados, all this stuff would seem pretty insignificant. But Selphie remained optimistic: the Ganados would be taken care of somehow, and then they could dissect all the stuff they had yelled at each other. Just not right now.
"… a day… ish?" She shrugged.
"Great, I can't wait." He could, actually. For a long time, even. You never know… It might escalate into full-blown smacking.
He shifted uncomfortably then stood. He wasn't used to being in that position for so long and moving around for a couple days straight screwed his muscles over.
"Get some," he said firmly, putting a hand on his hip and looking at her like he had some authority to do so. Some nerve, at least. "At least a couple hours. Things won't blow up or anything while you do."
Selphie stood as he did, a little taken back at all that had happened over the span of a few days. Heck, even the last hour or so had been a roller coaster. But they seemed okay.
"Yes, mother," She sighed, but the concern was nice. Sleep itself sounded nice. "Though I'm going to hold you to that! If I wake up and we're all dead, you'll never hear the end of it."
Selphie paused, and then added, "Thanks for the hug and the nice stuff you said, Squall. It really did make me feel better!"
Squall actually felt like he could sleep. Hopefully a whole hour, if not more. He idly wondered if Rinoa had taken the bed. Well, it wouldn't be the first time he'd slept on a floor.
"Don't call me that," he said, frowning. But at the rest, he rolled his eyes in a way that was nearly good-natured. "I'll never hear the beginning of it, since we'll be dead."
He marveled at the thanks. He'd acted like an asshole and now she was thinking him? Was a hug really that big of a deal? He almost said 'whatever' but ended up saying, "Yeah, well. You're welcome. The least I could do," embarrassedly. Yeah, sleep was definitely needed.
Selphie felt like she could fall asleep right then and there and never wake up. But she figured that would be a bad idea, considering that there were a lot of weird people in the castle and a ton of angry zombie-like people wanting to get in.
She looked at the mess they had made-half eaten food, water bottles all over the place-and shrugged again. "Bah, let the ghosts get it, I'm sleepy." And without waiting for Squall, Selphie headed towards the exit. She wasn't upset, but she didn't trust herself to walk behind him without doing something mean. Oh well. Revenge would come in one way or another.
"Yeah," he said, not about to argue. He let Selphie go ahead, following and staying a few paces behind. But when they reached the door, he opened it and stepped outside.
He hesitated there for a minute, unsure if there was some sort of protocol for this type of thing. They had a fight, made up, and now they were going to sleep so they'd be rested for a possible invasion. Definitely not in the Garden Code.
"I'll be in my room if you need me," he offered, glancing at her. "…Hope you sleep well." Then he was leaving; despite his measured gait, he still gave the impression he was fleeing. He hoped nothing like that ever, ever happened again.