Go, 200 Gil

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She laughed and couldn't resist clapping her hands excitedly. "Three houses means 560 gil, Zell. Pay up!"

Her friend muttered a curse and started gathering the little paper bills together, and he slapped them into her now outstretched hand with a pained groan. "Why doesn't anyone land on MY property?"

"Because everything you own is worthless, and even the dice realize it," Irvine joked, his fingers teasing their way up and down Selphie's arm. Zell growled at Irvine's comment, and the room erupted into laughter. Even Squall cracked a rare smile but hid it quickly, vanishing back into his stoic role as the banker.

Rinoa relished the laid back atmosphere as the five of them played Properties, an old board game Ma Dincht had urged Zell to throw out. Instead, he had brought it to Squall's dorm room that night, and they had been playing for over two hours without tiring. Life was so much better now with the threat of Ultimecia gone and their world at relative peace. She arranged the fake gil into little piles and grinned. If she could spend the rest of her life this way – surrounded by friends with no worries – she knew she'd die happy.

It was Selphie's turn, and she grabbed the dice from the center of the board. She placed them in her open palm and held it in front of Irvine's face. "Blow on them for luck?"

Irvine tipped his hat back and winked flirtatiously. "Blow on what, Sefie?"

"Oh no way, sick," Zell complained. "You guys need to stop that! That's just not right."

Selphie blushed and rolled the dice without Irvine's "assistance," and Rinoa found her eyes drifting in Squall's direction. She listened to the gentle tapping of Selphie moving her game piece around the board, catching Irvine tickling her from the corner of her eye. Squall seemed unmoved by the whole thing, and she sighed internally. She didn't necessarily need a public display of affection from her boyfriend, but would it kill him to at least look at her once in a while?

He was preoccupied with his role as the banker, and Rinoa had never seen anyone as serious about a silly game of Properties as Squall Leonhart. She'd been peeking at him several times over the course of the game. His gil stash was neatly arranged, as were his property cards. The bank was just as organized, not one thing out of place. Every time a player passed the Go square, he would make a quiet announcement. He'd say "Go, 200 gil," and he would hand over the money. He also was the property card manager, muttering the name of the card as he distributed it, and then he counted and recounted the money the new property owner had given him in exchange. It was enough to drive her mad. It was just a game!

She watched his eyes dart over his gil stacks over and over, hovering his hand over them every few minutes, and then bringing his hand back, and she finally realized what he was doing. It appeared that Squall was waging an internal war with himself over whether to reorganize his money piles into ascending order or to leave them be. She saw him lift a small pile of 1 gils, then set it back down with a frown, and Rinoa was unable to avoid the boisterous laugh that emerged from her. The others looked up, and Squall raised his head curiously. "Did I miss something? I'm sorry," he mumbled, and she felt terrible for laughing at him.

It was her turn anyhow, and she gave the dice a shake and let them scatter across the board. She moved the little dog piece, thankfully landing on something she owned. Zell again sighed, as she had just bypassed the railroad he owned. Irvine snorted, and she and Selphie were in hysterics once again. Squall took his turn, calling "Go, 200 gil" even though he was the one receiving the money. As if they wouldn't trust him to be honest about taking money! She bit back another laugh, desperately needing an escape from the oh-so-serious banker boyfriend she'd been lucky enough to snag.

"So," she began, catching Selphie's gaze. "How do you think Quisty's doing?"

Irvine scowled across the board at her. "Oh, don't start this and ruin my evening."

But Selphie was eager to gossip too. "Where do you think they went? There aren't that many restaurants in Balamb!"

"Oh, I know," she replied, giving her friend a wide grin. "There aren't that many hotels in Balamb either!"

"Aaaaah, stop!" Irvine and Zell cried in unison, and Selphie was doubling over in laughter. Irvine pulled off his hat for the first time all night and flung it at her as a projectile attack. She caught it and placed it on her own head, but Rinoa did not miss the small flash of jealousy in Squall's eyes. She was determined to leave the hat on her head then. Maybe it would stop his monk-like behavior.

Irvine crossed his arms defiantly, not even noticing Squall's reaction. "The last thing I need to think about tonight is Seifer Almasy getting his groove on."

"Oh for the love of Hyne, did you have to phrase it like that?" Zell cried, throwing his little stack of property cards at Irvine. The challenge issued, the taller boy grabbed the stack of Chance cards from the game board and flung them back in a rain of orange. Rinoa watched Squall's eyes narrow at the defilement of his perfectly ordered game world, and she decided to continue dismantling it.

"Oh Instructor," Rinoa shouted then in her best imitation of Seifer's voice, "do you want to see my gunblade?" Zell and Irvine turned from their Chance card fight to gape at her in absolute horror.

"RINOA!" they screamed, and suddenly a giant flood of fake money was unleashed from the two of them, and she squealed at the assault.

Selphie seemed to be struggling with breathing, but she was able to take Rinoa's side in this torturous war. "Why Seifer Almasy," she replied in a deeper, more Quistis-like voice, "it's so big!" Selphie was tackled by Irvine then, a tickle war ensuing.

Zell was still disgusted by the whole exchange and kept his full attention on Rinoa, pelting her again and again with game cards and fake gil. Her sides began to ache from laughing, and she watched Squall turn from Slightly Irritated to Majorly Annoyed and then to the last stage of his usual anger cycle – Lethal Intent.

Noticing this Fury in Progress, she tipped Irvine's hat at her boyfriend and winked, then grabbed a huge pile of gil from the bank – from his Sanctuary of Perfect Order – and threw half at Zell…and half at him. It was the straw that broke the chocobo's back, and he was on his feet and grouchy as an old maid in seconds.

"Out. Get out of my room! Each and every last one of you, out!"

Irvine picked up the game board from the floor and swatted Squall in the ass with it in one swift motion, and Rinoa thought Squall would burst a blood vessel. She could have sworn that the stoic Commander's eye was twitching.

"I said get out!" he scolded, and Selphie and Zell were silent. He marched over and took Irvine's hat from her head. "And…and…" Squall cried, his anger coming out faster than his words. "And take your stupid hat with you!" he finished, thrusting the cowboy hat into Irvine's hands. Selphie smiled widely and grabbed Irvine's hand, dragging him out. Zell threw one last property card at her, still furious about the Seifer and Quistis exchange, and departed as well, shutting the door behind him.

She put her hands on her hips and smirked. "I suppose that includes me too?" He was on his knees on the floor picking up fake money and property cards. She crouched down next to him, touching his arm. "Squall?"

He was more graceful than she gave him credit for as he pounced, knocking her onto her back. She gasped in surprise as she felt the thin paper cards poking her in the back. "I thought they'd never leave," he whispered in her ear, kissing his way from her neck to her jaw.

She laughed at this unexpected turn of events and wrapped her arms around him. He moved to kiss her lips, and she turned her head away. "Hey," he responded sadly, leaning up to look at her. Lethal Intent was gone, with Sad Abandoned Puppy in its place.

She gave him a wink and poked him in the side. "Go, 200 gil."

He snorted and moved off of her, scrambling around on the floor. Producing the required currency and returning to her, he waved the colorful bills in her face impatiently. "I'm not this kind of guy. You know that," he said pointedly, a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

She giggled and grabbed the fake money from his hand. "I know," she replied, kissing him soundly.