Word Count: 1,149
Rating: T
Pairing: ~~~
Squall stumbled into Zackary's home, grumbling about how he didn't want to be there. The raven-haired teen just laughed and locked his arm around the other's neck, saying something like, "You owe me one."
Truthfully, Squall didn't know how coming to his house would be payment.
He planned on escaping the grip by jabbing his elbow into Zackary's stomach, but the target foresaw the attack and quickly dodged, managing to drag the brunette along. Squall ducked his head out of the hold, rubbing his neck.
"Why am I here, again?"
"'Cause I told ya to be? You look like you need a place to hang out after school."
"…Do not."
"Well, I demand that you come here every day after school." Zackary straightened further, puffing out his chest, trying to copy the sense of dominance.
"Like hell." Squall walked down across the room that was connect to the living room, and headed straight for the corner that held the pictures. He was determined to figure out the pattern, now that he had been brought there anyway.
"Who's the spiky blonde?" The brunette asked, perfectly masking his curiosity behind a monotone veil. "Your brother?"
Hard to believe, though.
"Nope." Zackary's voice took on a false happiness as he walked slowly into the room.
He waited for an explanation, but heard nothing. "…Then who is he?"
Pause. No reply. Fuming a little, Squall turned to face the raven. His jaws opened to say something, but stayed quiet when he saw the expression on his face. It was just, simply, shock.
He looked over to where Zackary was staring, and frowned. The blonde from the picture was standing, with something like an apologetic smile on his face.
"Hey, Zack."
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Squall had argued about staying, only to be thrown out. Zackary had yelled and pulled out the You-Said-You-Didn't-Want-To-Be-Here card as he pushed the brunette out the door.
He glared at the door for a moment, and then spun around, still frowning. "Of course, only when it's convenient for him will he listen to what I've said."
He let his eyes drift to the ground while he stood, thinking. That blonde was there, standing so nonchalantly in Zackary's house—and Zackary hadn't kicked him out. Even though the brunette and the raven had just met, Squall still felt something…jealousy?
With a scoff, he focused on the world outside of his thoughts, aiming his eyes forward again.
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Squall found himself searching for the raven-haired teen, and only finding the redhead from before. Despite the gut feeling that told him that Reno was planning on another fight, he still walked up to the other, straightening to his full height.
"Where's Zackary?"
Reno turned, looking a little surprised, though he quickly covered that up. "Yo, I'm doin' fine, thanks. …Does it matter?"
"Well…yes. He's my partner for a paper we have to do." He hoped Reno would believe the lie.
Apparently, he did. "Oh. I dunno where he is."
Squall narrowed his eyes. He was lying back, eh? "Really? Hm, troublesome. I'll just have to visit his house or something."
Why had he said that?
"I…wouldn't do that." Reno was now looking off to the side, looking contemplative. "He's not there."
Now Squall was interested. "He bailed school to go create some mayhem?"
Now the redhead looked at him, "Yeah, that's it."
As Squall digested that information, he noticed how it tasted…artificial. "No, he didn't."
"Look, just avoid his house."
"Why? Is it because of the blonde?"
Reno blinked, "How do you know about Cloud?"
Cloud? "That's his name?"
"Yeah, Zack didn't tell ya?" Squall shook his head. "He's his childhood friend. They're like brothers."
Squall suppressed the urge to facepalm; nice way to let Zackary explain. "Whatever."
He turned and headed off to class.
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Standing in front of the door, his hand on the knob, Squall sighed. Throughout the day, he had put something together in his head; Zackary had told Reno to not tell Squall why he was not in school, or where he was.
He stared intensely at the wood, unable to decide if he should walk in or not. He waited for it to pull open…waited a moment more, and then lowered his hand. Of course, it wasn't some movie or something. The door wouldn't pull open itself.
He sighed, and then tensed up, forcing himself to grab the knob again and turn it quickly. It swung open quickly—surprising the brunette, for he had not put any force on it—revealing the blonde, Cloud, looking distraught.
His expression changed, covering up that agitated appearance from before. "Oh, you're that guy from before…"
"Squall," He offered, gawking blankly. "You're Cloud?"
The blonde forced a small smile, "Yeah. You're—?"
Zack stumbled around in the background, making a muffled sound as he struggled to get an article of clothing off his head.
Squall raised an eyebrow questioningly, receiving a frustrated sight from Cloud. "I came back to tell him about one of his old friends, Seph. I told him that he should make a good impression—delete those memories of a 'laid-back slacker'—and he took it too serious and bought a shirt that has a collar…managed to put it on backwards when my back was turned…then got stuck."
"How'd he get stuck?" Squall frowned a little when Zack managed to tumble into a wall.
"The collar has a button. He buttoned it." Cloud shook his head, and then rubbed his forehead. "Sometimes, I worry about him."
Squall grunted in agreement, stepping in as the blonde stepped off to the side. The brunette tossed a cautious glance his way, and then walked up to Zack, crossing his arms.
"…So." He said, making the struggling Zack freeze.
"Yes?" The voice was innocently puzzled, like a puppy caught in a blanket.
"You managed to get stuck in your shirt. That's kind of…sad."
"…Hm, I thought you would have found it cute." He chuckled. "Cloud did."
"He wasn't too happy about this, wasn't he?"
"He was ticked."
"…I don't find it cute."
"Sexy?"
"Nope."
"Damn," he straightened, using the wall as a support. Squall thought about asking if he needed any help, then decided against. "Hey, could you…? Cloud's mean, and doesn't wanna help me. Says I need to learn how to get out of this myself."
"I understand why. You did put on the shirt backwards in the first place."
"I was trying to be funny~"
"Funny your way out of this situation."
Cloud spoke up, "I like this guy."
"Cruel and unusual punishment is what this is. Sadists!" Zack complained, wiggling.
Everyone fell silent, until Cloud finally said, "Okay, fine. Teamwork."
"Teamwork! ~" Zack sang, walking like a zombie to the voice. He knocked into Squall, startled himself, stepped back—running into Cloud—then tripped when trying to not run over the blonde.
Squall slammed his hand against his face, thinking, Helpless.
No plot, really. Well; you found out what happened with Cloud. SO THERE'S LITTLE PLOT. And I kind of gave hints—hint—as to a second pairing I'm forcing into this story. (I'M WRITIN' THIS THING, I SAY THERE'S TWO PAIRINGS, DANGGIT.) There's a point behind the seemingly pointless conversation. |D Well, except the last. I FELT RUSHED AND I NEEDED SOMETHING THERE. I'll make it better, promise~~~ -whines- D8
