Disclaimer: The usual, these characters don't belong to me, this is AU. Fun, though. ;) Also, the lyrics that everyone will undoubtedly notice as we go on belong to the Goo Goo Dolls. I make no claim to having their talent. Enjoy, and hope to see you for the long haul, since I DO intend to upload quite a few chapters before this comes to an end.


Chapter One: Getting Dressed?

I'd give up forever to touch you

Seifer looked down at Squall's naked, sleeping form, and smiled. The brunet looked so peaceful, so calm and angelic laying there, and the blond could hardly believe his situation. Squall was so reserved, so detached from everyone else, but Seifer knew him so well. All he had to do was look at his partner, his lover, to know what the other was thinking, and he was happy to see how Squall opened up when they were alone together. The brunet spoke more and gave Seifer these looks that made him just want to kiss him. At other times, when he saw Squall amongst his SeeDs and SeeDlings with that cold, reserved look, he wanted to do the exact same thing, if only to draw his lover out of the icy shell he was wearing. Seifer didn't just call him "Ice Princess" because of his affinity for ice magic, afterall. Trying to get to Squall's heart was like chipping at an iceberg, and only two people that Seifer knew of had ever managed it, himself and Rinoa.. Squall was still slowly recovering from Rinoa's success at chipping the ice, while Seifer himself had simply melted it away over time, that's how he looked at it, and he was fiercely protective of the heart he'd saved from the frozen prison it had resided in. Squall's problem was that wounds of the heart healed slowly for him, which was what had happened with Rinoa, and Seifer wasn't letting something of that sort happen again. He was going to be the Princess' knight this time, and he wasn't letting anything happen to his Ice Princess.

Still swimming through his thoughts, Seifer gave in to impulse and leaned down to kiss Squall's lips softly, trying not to wake him, but unable to resist those soft, lush lips of his. Squall didn't move for a second and Seifer lingered, just enjoying the sound of his lover's breathing. Without even bothering to open his eyes, Squall's lips responded to Seifer's gentle touch, welcoming him into the kiss in a soft, loving way that nobody else had ever shown the blond, and he couldn't resist it. Leaning over Squall, half-dressed, he slowly increased the force in the kiss, taking it from a soft, gentle act to a more heated moment. Squall's arms reached up almost lazily to wrap around his shoulders, and Seifer felt himself being pulled down slowly but insistently.

"What are you doing with pants on?" the brunet asked a moment later, his breathing just a little heavy as he woke himself up, a small smile curving over his lips. "Did I tell you to get dressed?"

Seifer smirked at Squall's show of aggression, not at all intimidated by it but rather turned on. They both knew who was dominant in their relationship, but that still didn't stop Squall from making comments such as that. It let Seifer know what the brunet wanted without Squall actually asking. "Is that you asking for more? I seem to remember you falling asleep on me last night."

"We were done, you wore me out, I slept it off," he said simply, and Seifer's smirk turned a bit more wicked.

"Fine, then, I'll just have to do it again." Seifer climbed into the Commander's large bed and kissed the man forcefully, being careful not to harm him. It wouldn't do to have Squall walking around looking like he'd had a rough night with a girlfriend he didn't have. Seifer knew this was his heaven, here in Squall's arms, and being the sinner he was, he knew he didn't deserve it. He wasn't going to risk it with stupid mistakes, and he was going to enjoy every last minute of it.

Seifer watched Squall dress later, appreciating the subtle muscle movements as the brunet first pulled on his leather pants, with no underwear as usual, and then worked at buckling the five thousand belts he seemed so fond of. Seifer remembered the first time they had been intimate and how much trouble he'd had getting those damn belts off. There were six total, three around his right thigh and three around his waist, and Seifer loved the way those leather straps looked wrapped around Squall's leather clad body. He just insisted that the belts be removed before they got anywhere near an intimate situation. There was nothing worse than fighting with six belts and a pair of leather pants when you were in a lust-befuddled state of mind, and Seifer had a habit of putting Squall in a situation that kept the brunet from being able to comfortably reach most of the buckles, which left him to do it. Not fun.

Squall seemed to take notice of Seifer's gaze on his body only after getting the final belt buckled, and he looked over, seemingly almost surprised. He didn't say anything, but Seifer knew what he was thinking, just because he knew Squall so well. "Yes, I watching, and yes, I'm definitely enjoying the show. Go on, it's like a striptease in reverse. You'll have to treat me to the real thing later," he said with a coy smirk, quite liking the idea of that suggestion. Even better, he was rewarded with a true smile from the brunet, which was rare, and something he prided himself on being one of the few to witness, nevermind provoke.

"You're just going to be lazy? Laying there watching me get dressed?"

"Well, yeah. The last time I tried getting dressed, you vetoed the idea, so I figure I might as well just be lazy now. It's not like I have any special reason to get up, anyway." The last bit came out almost bitterly, though he managed to cover that part well enough. Most of the people at Balamb Garden, which had once been his family and home, saw him as an enemy who couldn't be trusted, and they made that obvious to him. He would walk down the halls only to receive either fearful looks, or glares. No one other than Squall had ever bothered to ask him about what happened, and he wasn't going to rush over and tell them all. What did he care? If they didn't want to make an effort, he wasn't going to kiss their asses to make them understand. Only Squall understood him, just as only he truly understood Squall through his silence. His Ice Princess, all alone and surrounded by ignorant fools up until recently. No wonder Squall had such strong defense mechanisms.

"Well, come find me when you finally decide to get up," Squall said, pulling a shirt on, then his boots. He grabbed his jacket and his gunblade as he headed for the door, and Seifer watched him go with a blank look on his face, lost in thought for a moment. It felt right to tell Squall that he loved him, but he remained silent. Instead, he let the brunet go, and then set to getting a shower.