Cooking and Realizations

The sun had set, leaving three young men cleaning around a loft that looked like a tempest had gotten a hold of. Even if it was the women that caused ninety percent of the damage around the loft, it was the men, well two of them, who had started the entire thing, and it was they who had thought they could get away with it.

The three women were downstairs instructing the stranded moving men where the furniture should be moved. Since the loft was already furnished, they instructed the men to take a majority of the stuff to a storage space, while leaving the bedroom stuff to be hauled up. And since the moving men had left, the women were left doing the hauling.

"Tell me again why we didn't have those guys just leave everything here?" Rinoa whined from one side of a bed.

"Because we would have to be hauling stuff up and down all the way till midnight, and we would still have half of our apartment sitting on the front curb." Quistis called back from the other side of the full-size mattress. They paused halfway up the stairs, seeing as how lifting heavy objects and walking up stairs don't mix well, and that the elevator had a certain weight restriction seeing as how it was older than any of them.

Both dropped the mattress and leaned up against the wall, resting their tired arms. 'Women aren't meant to do this kinda work!' Quistis thought to herself, wiping the sweat off her brow.

'Aren't the guys supposed to be doing this kinda stuff?' thought an equally sweaty Rinoa.

Both of the women were tired not only from hauling their stuff from the bottom floor to the fourth floor, they had also chased two men they didn't even know around a loft for four straight hours. The women were remembering what they had learned about their roommate and his friends.

The three women talked to Irvine, the man Quistis was chasing around with a hammer, the one that looked like a cowboy, and found out not only his name, but that he was a tad bit obsessed with western things, obviously, but was also an…eccentric kind of man when it came to women. He never stayed glued to one for too long, afraid of the clinginess that accompanied it, but he didn't mind the contact part of it.

They also found out about Zell and how he was a constant competitor in the kickboxing matches that were held around the world. They didn't believe the part that he was the most experienced fighter in the entire world. Zell was a little admonished at this, but still managed to talk and laugh around. He was a homebody kind of person, and preferred to keep to himself about his love life.

But they never found out much of what Squall was like. He was quiet most of the time, and always seemed to be deep in thought. His face held a constant scowl, and the glare his blue eyes gave could put the mountains of Trabia to shame. When the girls tried getting him to talk, they either got a 'whatever' or a simple stare accompanied with silence.

The women decided not to pursue the line of questioning that dealt with his personal life.

When Quistis and Rinoa were still thinking about today's sudden turn of events, Selphie came bounding up the stairs, bags in both hands and her mouth, look of determination written across her face. She flew past the two weary women, giving them a brief smile before that look came on her face again, and she started taking the steps two at a time.

"Where does she get all that energy?" both chimed at the same time. They looked at each other before laughing about their hyperactive friend.

"Let's get this up there and then we're done with the heavy stuff." Quistis said, sighing before lifting her end of the bed.

"Yes! Thank Hyne! Then we relax!" Rinoa exclaimed, giddy at the thought of having to rest on her bed in the new apartment/loft.

They both lifted with a renewed energy and resolve and quickly climbed the last few flights of stairs. Quistis opened the door and resumed her position lifting the mattress, and made their way to the door that held their part of the loft. It was right below Squall's, and was quite nice. It was about the size of a single wide, and each girl had her own room. The only downside was no bathroom. That was located across the living room and past open windows. Not good for modesty.

When they got the bed to Quistis' room, they both flopped it down onto the wooden frame, and collapsed. They looked at the ceiling, wondering about the enigma that was Squall. Everything, save the items that belonged to the women, was his. As far as they knew, he had no job, and yet he still managed to get this much stuff for this loft. And where did he get the money to even afford this place? The entire place took up one whole floor.

'I guess it's another thing to chalk up on the list of things that deal the mystery of Squall, resident roommate and hottie.' Rinoa thought. She looked off at Quistis, who had her eyes closed and was resting easily, as easily as you can when sweating like a pig.

She rolled off the bed, walking out and to her room, seeing nothing but boxes and bags everywhere. She proceeded to unpack her things when she heard a crash come from above her. Wondering what it was, she ran up, Quistis following close behind. When they climbed the stairs that led to Squall's room, they suddenly stopped, seeing Squall open the door, rubbing his head. Under his arm was a basketball, and he was looking ready to use it.

"Zell!" He screamed, completely ignoring the two women in front of him. Zell came out, dustpan and broom in hand, full of crap from around the loft. Squall threw the ball at him, nailing him in the gut. Zell grabbed the ball in his gut, dropping the broom and pan, gasping for air.

"Thanks Squall." Zell wheezed, still trying to get his breath back. He walked away slowly leaving the cleaning things behind.

Squall just looked at him before turning to back into his room and noticing the two women looking at him. "What?"

He just looked at them, expecting them to say something, but instead they were just staring at him. After a couple of minutes just standing there, he just walked in again closing the door a little harsher than he had intended.

They looked at the door and then at each other, shrugging. They walked back down the stairs and back into their new rooms, intent on having their rooms set up at least by midnight.

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Squall walked over to his bed, two gunblades resting on stands above him on a shelf. One was his first gunblade, the Revolver, the other was his best, the Lionheart. He lay flat on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. It wasn't like most ceilings.

This ceiling was made in Esthar, courtesy of his father. During the day, it would remain solid like an ordinary ceiling. But when the sun was beginning to set, the ceiling would slowly become transparent, allowing a person to look freely at the stars.

He looked past what was left of ceiling to see the first star of the evening. But he wasn't thinking about first stars. It was rather more of three women that had become his roommates. He knew they would be coming thanks to fair warning from Seifer, but he didn't expect them to come at such a time. Especially his shower time.

He made a mental note to slap his best friend upside the head when he came to town again.

He got up and went to his little bookcase to look for something to get his mind off of those women. Feeling a little frustrated that he had read everything at least five times, he went out and down the stairs, hoping to raid the fridge and see what he could make.

To an ordinary person, there would be nothing ready to eat, but if you were Squall, you could come up with something easily, you just had to be patient.

He found some pasta sauce sitting on the door, and found some meat sitting on the bottom shelf. He quickly closed the fridge and opened one of the cabinets above beside. He found what he was looking for; a box of linguine.

When he got the necessary items, he started cooking, intent on getting his mind off the new arrivals. But every time he did so, it always came back to them. Not so much the brunette, (Selphie was it?) seeing as how Irvine was giving those looks again, but to the other two.

'What was their names? Quistis and Rinoa?' he thought, trying to remember exactly who was who. He kept thinking, absentmindedly stirring the sauce on the stove. It wasn't so much that they looked good, it was just the look in their eyes that got him thinking. Rinoa's eyes were full of warmth and care, like those that would be there to comfort you all the time. But with Quistis' eyes they held an understanding, like she knew what you had gone through and was there to help you no matter what.

He was too busy thinking about those two that he hadn't noticed Zell and Irvine trying to sneak out of loft, heading to the stairs.

"Where do you to think you're going?" Selphie squealed, holding a box full of yellow things. Squall didn't want to know where she had gotten all that yellow stuff.

Both men cringed, realizing they had forgotten someone. Squall looked over at the two, raising an eyebrow. He didn't need to say anything when his facial gesture spoke clearly enough. Both men saw this, and hung their heads, returning to cleaning the loft. Squall just looked back over at Selphie and nodded, Selphie giving a smile and sticking out her tongue. She then trotted over to her door and kicked it open, disappearing from view.

Squall took the cooked linguine from the pot and placed it over the strainer, draining out the steaming water. When he turned around to place the pot on stove again, he almost dropped it. Everyone was leaning on the counter next to the stove, watching him intently. He didn't have to read their minds to know what they wanted.

He looked over Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa, then at Zell and Irvine. He walked over to the stove and put the pot down, taking the other pot and mixing the sauce with the linguine. Once he was finished, he took the pot and placed it in the sink, soaking it in some water, then grabbed a plate from a cabinet. He served himself and went over to the couch sitting in the middle as usual.

Everyone was still staring at his back, when he gave a wave of his hand.

Selphie ran around the side, going shoulder to shoulder with Irvine who had ran around the other side. They were shoving each other when Quistis pushed in between the two.

"Ladies first, Irvine." Emphasizing his name. She pushed him over along with Zell who cried out at Irvine's sudden push.

"What! No hotdog in this thing?" Everyone looked at Zell incredulously, wondering why anyone would want hotdog in their pasta. Squall just put his fork down and put his hand on his forehead. He pulled his hand down and reached for remote next to him, trying to find something that would take his attention away from his roommates. He found a movie that was just starting. He looked at the title. It said, 'Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children' He wondered what that would be like.

When everyone had finished serving themselves, they each found a spot on the large couch. They were mixed up this time, with Selphie sitting near Irvine, while Zell sat on one side, with Rinoa on his side, and Quistis near Squall.

While they were watching the movie, Squall glanced over to Quistis who was wrapped up in the fight that was taking place. He noticed her features, noting that they were one that belonged to a fashion model from Heaven. Her blonde hair framed her face perfectly, letting her blue eyes stand out.

Quistis felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle, telling her she was being watched. She looked to her side to see Squall's gaze return to the television. She felt a warmth spread to her cheeks and turned slightly away, trying to make sure she wasn't seen by him.

Squall mentally berated himself for being so obvious like that. He never openly checked women out, he just did it when no one was looking. He took a quick glance at Quistis who had turned away slightly, but was still watching the tv. He looked slightly away to see Rinoa watching the fight scene too.

He saw at how well her face was featured. Light skin, and soft brown eyes. Her black hair had a couple of brown highlights in the front, making her eyes stand out and framing her face nicely. He thought she was suitable enough to be an angel from Heaven.

'Wait a tick…Since when do I say that two out of three of my roommates look like angels from Heaven? I must be losing it.' Squall quickly shook his head, trying to rid himself of his thoughts on the two women. Rinoa noticed this and looked at Squall questioningly. He only took a quick second glance before super-gluing his eyes to the tv for the remainder of the night. Rinoa shrugged and looked back at the tv, a slight pink hue come to her cheeks.

'Why in the Hell am I even thinking about those two? Wait. Why two? Why can't it be one? If it's two…Hyne save me.' Squall placed his hand on his forehead and sighed, getting everyone's attention. He didn't care if they saw him, he knew he was already in a world of trouble. He wished Seifer were here to help him out a little.

A/N: Well…Iknow it was lax on the humor on this one, but be patient! And it looks like the pairings have come out, but only one problem; the votes were tied! Yes TIED! It was between Quall and Squinoa. Crazy I know, and a little disappointing because now its going to be a little triangle between the three. I don't know how to choose between the two, but we can let Seifer take a shot at the two. Maybe he would know what to do. Heeheehee!

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