Squall stared at the stuffed cactuar that Laguna was holding out for him to take. He eyed the gift warily before flicking his eyes up to see a beaming Laguna. The man looked like he was about to piss himself from excitement. Squall rolled his eyes upward as he didn't even bother hiding his annoyance with the man.
Holy hell, did he really have to accept such a childish gift? Plus it reminded him of that Jumbo Cactuar with the stupid mustache that he'd tried so hard to forget about.
They were in the cafeteria at Balamb Garden. It was yet another of many parties that had followed the defeat of Ultimecia. To Squall's surprise, Laguna had decided to show up to this one. Perhaps he had found time in his busy schedule to come. Or perhaps he was just a lazy ass who hated doing any actual work. In any case, he hadn't alerted Squall about his arrival so it was a big surprise to see the man walk in. And not only did he greet Squall as soon as he saw him, but he was practically attached to him by the hip as he tried to make conversation with him. Asking him about the things that he always seemed to ask him.
How were things at Garden? How's Cid? How are you and Rinoa getting along?
Just the same mind-numbingly boring questions every single time. And it took all Squall had to keep himself from telling the man to just shut the hell up and leave him alone. Because it didn't make sense why he even cared so much about his boring life.
And so Squall had tried getting away from Laguna by searching for Rinoa or any of his other friends. He'd navigated his way around tables and chairs, even knocking into Xu at one point, who was in the middle of a Triple Triad match with Quistis. After she'd cursed at him violently, she'd bent down to pick up the cards that had tumbled from her hands to the floor. And he could have sworn he'd heard Quistis laugh at him as he apologized and stumbled away.
He'd even considered just hiding behind someone or crawling underneath a table so that Laguna might think that he'd left. The only reason Squall didn't consider actually leaving was because he'd promised Rinoa he'd accompany her to the party. She loved these sorts of get-togethers while Squall tended to find them exhausting. He had spent so much time just sitting in his dorm room in the past that it was a significant change now that he was forced to socialize more. He was doing his best to come out of his shell, but he preferred to take things a day at a time.
And Laguna didn't exactly make things any easier with his chatty personality. Not only that, but the man seemed to have laser vision as he always found Squall no matter where he hid.
And now that Squall had been cornered for perhaps the tenth time, crouched behind a pillar where a bunch of students were gathered, Laguna had tapped his shoulder and told him that he had a surprise for him. And so Squall had slowly risen, resigning himself to his fate.
And what a fate it was.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Squall said as he refused to take the gift from Laguna's hands.
"No, I am not kidding you in the slightest," Laguna said as he pressed the cactuar against Squall's chest. "Come on. Take it. You deserve it."
Squall covered his face for a few seconds as he prayed that he wouldn't actually be forced to accept such a stupid gift. What was he, nine?
"Laguna I am not taking that from you," Squall said as he pushed the cactuar back in Laguna's direction. "Just return it to wherever you got it from. Look, I'll even pay you back if you want."
Laguna frowned at this as he lowered the cactuar. "Pay me back? For Hyne's sake, Squall. You saved the world from time compression. You can at least accept a little cactuar as a thank you. Besides, I thought you might think it's kinda cute."
"Cute?" Squall asked perplexed. "What makes you think that I'd want something cute?"
Squall groaned then as Selphie and Irvine walked up to them to see what was going on. He really didn't need a crowd to form around them right now.
"Oh my gosh is that a cactuar?" Selphie squealed as she grabbed the toy out of Laguna's hands. "It's so cute! Where did you get it from Laguna?"
"From a toy store in Esthar," Laguna said sounding a bit happier now. "I got it for Squall, but he's being a meanie and not accepting it."
Squall glared at Laguna as he did not like being painted as the bad guy in situations like this. Plus he hated being called a meanie. Rinoa called him that all the time. He didn't need Laguna of all people to call him that too.
"I'm not mean," he muttered, crossing his arms.
"Then why won't you just take the gift?" Irvine questioned, clearly puzzled as he scratched the side of his head. "Do you have somethin' against cactuars? Wait a sec...It's not 'cause of that Jumbo one that beat the hell out of us, is it?"
"Maybe he's still traumatized from those needles we had to tweeze out of his face," Selphie mused.
Irvine chuckled then. "And it wasn't just his face."
"Gosh, I felt so bad. Especially when he started to-"
"Alright!" Squall snapped, as he snatched the cactuar out of Selphie's hands. He didn't want to hear about this, especially in Laguna's presence. "There! Are you guys happy now? I took the stupid child's toy that I never asked for in the first place." His scowl deepened as he could feel Laguna's eyes on him. "And I'm not traumatized," he mumbled.
Selphie and Irvine exchanged a look at this. A look that definitely seemed to imply that Squall was overreacting. Which he probably was, but he didn't care. He just hated the feeling that he was being forced to take something that he didn't need, much less want. And what exactly was the point of the gift anyway? Yes, he helped to save the world, but it's not like he needed some sort of "thank you" for it. He hated when people made a big deal out of things that he did.
And Selphie and Irvine's comments had caused him to think back to that Jumbo Cactuar battle. It wasn't exactly loads of fun. And yes the aftermath did suck. Majorly. Listening to them recap it had started to grate on his nerves. But he wasn't traumatized. And besides, it wasn't just the fact that it was a cactuar that Laguna was giving him…
"I never got to see a Jumbo Cactuar up close," Laguna said. "I always heard stories about them, but I never even heard of anyone actually fighting one. You're actually pretty lucky to have run into one, Squall."
"Oh yeah, I was real lucky," Squall said as he suddenly remembered lying in a fetal position after the end of the battle. He still felt embarrassed about the fact that he'd started sobbing because of the pain, particularly in his crotch area. He couldn't help but feel animosity towards the Jumbo Cactuar for actually aiming his attack at that particular region. What kind of a sadist was that thing? And then there was the blood...
Squall heard footsteps approaching him from behind and turned to see Rinoa walk up beside him. She linked her arm in his as she looked curiously at the group. "What's everyone talking about?"
"Nothing," Squall said, suddenly feeling suffocated. "We're just staring at each other and not saying anything."
Rinoa removed her arm from his and just looked at him for a moment. Squall heaved a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling trying to collect himself. Great, now he was being a jerk to Rinoa. He felt regret begin to seep in for being sarcastic in response to her innocent question.
"I think I'll just go and get myself something to eat," Laguna said, looking uneasy. But before he left he hesitated a moment, and turned back to Squall. "If it bugs you that much, you can just give it back Squall. I guess...I guess I just thought you might like it for some dumb reason. Sorry for being annoying or whatever."
Squall blinked at this, unused to seeing Laguna looking anything less than ecstatic in his presence.
Selphie and Irvine walked away as they seemed to recognize that their presence wasn't required. Rinoa on the other hand watched Squall with interest. Squall looked at her briefly to see her tilt her head in Laguna's direction, widening her eyes as though to tell him something. Squall groaned then, knowing what she was hinting at.
"You're...not annoying," he finally said as he suppressed an eye roll at his obvious lie. "And I'll just keep the toy. You don't have to take it back." The truth was Squall felt like he had to accept the gift anyway. He hated himself for feeling a twinge of guilt in his chest over Laguna looking sad because of him. Somehow seeing the guy looking crestfallen bothered him even more than seeing him overjoyed over nothing.
Laguna's face lit up. "Really?" he said. "You're okay with it?"
"I said I'll keep it, didn't I?" Squall said irritably. "Don't make me change my mind."
Laguna simply grinned at Squall as Rinoa seemed to relax as well due to the tension dispersing. Squall still felt a little annoyed with having to accept the gift, but he knew that if he didn't he'd probably end up regretting it anyway. Laguna might start moping and guilt tripping him or something. Or his friends would shoot him dirty looks for treating the guy rudely. Hyne, he hated feeling like, well, a meanie. But he supposed that maybe that was just what he had been behaving like. Maybe he needed to ease up a bit after all.
After Laguna finally walked away to join a few SeeDs who were watching Quistis and Xu's triple triad matches, Squall looked down at the stuffed toy in his hands. Truthfully, he couldn't recall ever having had a stuffed toy. At the orphanage, he'd never asked for nor had he been given many toys at all. He'd actually asked for very little as a child. In a way, he'd wished that he'd gotten a gift like this as a child. But it wasn't as though he'd had anyone to give him one back then. For a second, he felt his eyes soften as he looked at the cactuar.
Just then, Rinoa took hold of Squall's arm. He looked up at her in surprise. "Let's go watch," she said, gesturing towards the small crowd that was gathered around Xu and Quistis. Squall nodded at this as he walked with her arm in arm.
As time passed by, his annoyance with Laguna slowly faded away. Watching the matches seemed to relax his nerves and he began to feel like he truly had overreacted about accepting the stuffed toy. Maybe he was being a bit harsh towards Laguna. Sure, he found it difficult to tolerate the man's presence, but he knew deep down that he had pure intentions. It was just that it was hard to remember that at times due to how annoying he could be.
And when Laguna approached Squall and his friends to say goodbye an hour later, Squall could tell the man was appreciative that he had accepted the gift without him having to say so. Still, though, there was no way that Squall was going to keep that toy out in the open for his friends to see. He'd probably just throw it under his bed or somewhere deep in his closet. After all, he still hated cactuars.
Especially ones with a mustache.