A/N: A proper fanfiction entry for the Where I Belong challenge in August 2012 - part two.

The author does not own the Final Fantasy Franchise.

"Okay. So, tonight then?" Squall speaks into his mobile phone, holding it with his left hand as he sits down on his office chair. He places the sheaf of papers he retrieved from the pigeon box on his desk before wheeling himself to the window, his attention on the person on the other end of the conversation.

"Yeah... You take care of yourself, too." He rises from his seat and adjusts the controls on the automated window blinds. "... See you later, then." Squall ends the call, and finishes punching in the necessary settings. After a few moments of watching the area outside Garden, he types in a note on his phone, then leaves it on the desk.

Rinoa had kept her promise to call him that morning, as he'd asked her to do in the note he'd written last night (or rather, several hours before). He'd just returned from the meeting at Trabia some time past midnight, and he'd immediately checked on his girlfriend when a faculty member on night patrol told him that the lights in her dorm room were still on. He'd found her sleeping, of course, with a partially-disassembled clock on her desk and her physics project on the counter.

Squall looks away from the window, a small smile now on his face. The young sorceress had always expressed her desire to help Garden in any way she could, especially after everything that happened and everything she "owes Garden until now". To the surprise of many, except for himself and their friends, she signed up right away when they offered to train in-house technical personnel for maintenance and repair of the mobile campus. However, as she lacked units in general physics, she is now retaking the subject to re-credit the prerequisite units. She takes every lesson to heart and spends a lot of her free time reviewing the basic concepts. Time and again, she proves that she can hold her own "fair and square" against the higher-ranking members of the class. He can't deny his growing admiration (and partly, amusement) for her focus, determination and tenacity, even in doing these kinds of things.

Biiiiiip! Squall walks over to the coffee maker and flicks the switch off. The pot and brewer were a gift from Selphie and Irvine on his "office-warming party", as his friends called it - not that he sees the necessity of both party and machine, anyway. He himself doesn't drink coffee often, but he keeps it around in case visitors would like something to drink. Rinoa would also pour herself a cup once in a while when she drops by. She does so more often the past few days, now that she pulls all-nighters for both her physics course and her personal project.

"Whatever," he had expressed to himself when he'd found out about this from a seemingly-tearful Selphie, who'd stormed into his office a week ago, demanding access to the basement. Apparently, Zell and Rinoa had found loads of alarm clocks down there, and split a number between them to repair. (Miss Tilmitt, it seemed, was mildly bitter about not being given a share of clocks, and thus went to Commander Leonhart to complain.) He'd rolled his eyes at this turn of events, both because it seemed that most of the younger students at Garden had still not overcome their phobia of clocks since the Ultimecia threat, and because the sorceress and the martial artist already turned it into a competition without checking with the Garden staff. (They, he found out later, were more than alright with it; Cid and Edea even wished both participants luck the last time they visited.) Squall dismissed Selphie at first, asking her to return the next day, as it was already too late. But several minutes and a little convincing from Rinoa later, the once-again-cheerful female SeeD exited triumphantly from the office with the keycard to the sub-ground levels.

Squall would now laugh to himself every time he remembers the incident. More than a year into their relationship, he's still the same rookie SeeD being led along by this girl who suddenly came into his life. Even now, it doesn't take long for his sorceress to work her magic until she finally has him dancing in her palm to her tune. It wasn't in a bad way, of course; most of said experiences stem from her trying to get him to loosen up. He definitely had to admit that it was mostly to her that he'd usually open up to, and through her that he slowly learned to take things easy once in a while - something that he has been, and will always thank her for.

The desk phone rings, bringing Squall out of his short reverie. Nida is on the other line, requesting Squall's presence on the bridge. After a short conversation, the SeeD commander turns out the lights, grabs his office keycard and mobile phone and then heads out.

-x-

Squall returns to his office in a brisk walk after lunch, mentally cursing himself for forgetting to read and sign certain important SeeD reports that have been forwarded to his office. Xu had informed him of them first thing when he clocked in for work that morning, but it had slipped out of his mind once the other regular notices and mission reports came in. Upon arriving, he wastes no time in pulling out the lengthy documents from the bottom of the pile and begins reviewing the afternoon's worth of work.

Around half an hour or so into the silent activity, the mobile phone vibrates for the umpteenth time on the desk. After quite some time of ignoring it, Squall finally retrieves it from the far end of the desk and flips it open disinterestedly, going through through the stream of messages he let pile up for the duration he'd left it alone. Deeming most of them unimportant, he proceeds to delete the whole batch when the latest, one from Rinoa, stops him from doing so. Deducing that it must be another one of those 'group messages,' he raises an eyebrow, wondering why she would send one now of all times.

"I stand before fifty Romans. Nothing comes before five; invert three, and you will come next."

Just sharing. Don't stress yourself too much, okay? There are still some coffee beans left over from the last stop-over at FH. :)

- Rin

A ghost of a smile passes the sorceress knight's lips. If anything, she'd certainly found out, one way (or feeling) or another, that he is already on the verge of dozing off as he is skimming through the reports for the afternoon. It would seem that Rinoa's "sorceress' senses" are at work again, but Squall prefers to think of it as a testament to how close they have become in the long time they have known each other, so much that they already understand what is behind the subtle signs, behind certain actions and expressions that they keep only between themselves. They have not yet taken their relationship any step much further than that, but he is content with it for now, and so is she. They are not in a hurry; slowly and surely, they will learn.

Also, the fact that he now entertains these thoughts is a first. Not that he needed any cliched reflections playing out in his mind, but he is okay with them once in a while.

Smoothing a hand over his hair, Squall shifts his attention to the report he was last reading. As soon as he finishes it, he heads over to the coffee machine to pour himself a cup, adding a heap of caramel-flavored creamer to it just as Rinoa does. As he sips the hot drink, he reads the brain teaser she sent him again. Trying not to overly take it seriously, he absent-mindedly scrolls down to the message details and reads the timestamp.

Received:
1432h, 08-20-X198
From:
Heartilly, Rinoa
+08-09331891415

A smirk spreads over Squall's face, the best he could do to try to hide his great amusement (and to a certain extent, laughter). Rinoa is definitely playing his game - as if there were any other way to do so, especially after the note he left in her room the night before. Moreover, she'd intentionally dropped a hint where no one, not even he, would think of looking. He returns to his desk once more, setting down the half-empty cup in his hand beside the pen holder. He reaches for a ballpen at first, but then decides against it. After reading the text message to himself one last time, he finishes the coffee and settles down, waiting for a few moments before continuing his work once more.

The answer to her riddle will have to wait until much, much later. And this time, he'll let her know personally.