-4-

Playmates

Seifer's apartment was nothing short of cluttered. There were beer cans, candy wrappers, pieces of paper strewn around all over the place. Shirts and pants were lying over the couches and chairs.

Squall's face for once betrayed the sheer disbelief he felt inside, "I thought you said you have a house keeper."

Seifer chuckled with embarrassment, "Yeah, but she comes three times a week."

"And I gather today was her day off?" Squall muttered the obvious.

The blonde smiled, "Yeah…my friends were here last night"

"and they decided to trash the place." Squall smirked, "This place is a damn dumpster. The only difference is that your apartment doesn't reek, though believe me that is a surprise."

Seifer pouted, "Father didn't tell me you were coming over. Comon!"

Squall snorted and followed Seifer into his bedroom, which was less messy than the living room but a dumpster nonetheless.

Seifer shrugged, "You can sleep on my bed if you want. I'll sleep on the couches outside. The guestroom doesn't have a piece of furniture to its name…we'll fix that tomorrow. What are you doing?"

Seifer frowned as Squall began picking up the scattered clothes and beer cans.

"I'll sleep on the couch…after this place looks like an apartment that is."

Seifer glanced at Squall's figure, noticing the strength in his arms and legs. Although the muscles weren't eminent like his, Squall's lean stature held a whisper of strength and power.

The brunet rolled up the sleeves of his tight, white shirt and glanced at Seifer, "You could help or sit out somewhere till I'm done."

Seifer frowned at the whip and gun fastened to one of the three belts around his hip, "You know how to use these?"

Squall grunted, "Yeah."

He walked out, starting to pick up the beer cans and dumping them in the trash can.

"I'll do that. You're not my maid, dammit."

"I'm your…housemate…so I do have a say in how this place looks like. I can't sleep with trash everywhere, so I'm not doing you a favor."

Seifer frowned, picking up his clothes, a faint blush of mortification tainting his cheeks for the first time in his life.

'Why the hell do I care what that brunet thinks of me, anyway?' but he did and he tried to redeem himself by helping around.

"I'm surprised there isn't a mound of sauce covered plates on the kitchen floor."

Seifer groaned, "Give me some credit."

"Hmph…and I was half expecting you bathrooms to house roaches."

"It's not that bad." Seifer wailed.

Squall walked back into the living room, a very slight smile adorning his handsome face.

Seifer was transfixed, "You…have a dimple."

Squall lost his smile and ran a hand through his hair, shrugging off the blonde's comment.

"You look so cute when you smile. You should do that often you know...it suits you better than that kick-my-ass frown."

Squall snorted.

In an hour the apartment was looking civilized and cozy. Squall pulled out a towel form a bag of his, "Do you mind if I shower?"

"No, you can use my bathroom."

Squall nodded and walked off in the direction of the restroom.

"Just watch out for rats." Seifer called.

Squall whirled around, a horrified expression on his usually guarded face.

"Just kidding…I swear."

The brunet glared at the flaxen who grabbed his chest in an exaggerated manner, "Please, aaaahhhh…I'm gonna die…noooooooo! Save me."

Squall rolled his eyes and turned, trying to hide the smile forcing its way onto his face.

The brunet was sitting by the kitchen window, looking out at a pretty meadow that surrounded Seifer's apartment. He was clad in tight, black leather pants and a contrasting white shirt that Seifer guessed must have belonged to the boy's father.

Squall turned as Seifer walked over to him, clad in only a pair of shorts, "What time is it?"

Seifer turned to the electric watch hanged on the wall then smiled sheepishly, "o'clock?"

he supplied.

Squall rolled his eyes, "You are so careless. I'll go to the store and get you some batteries…is there anything else you need?"

"Later, sit with me now. Let's watch a movie or something. Who cares about the time anyway?"

Squall rolled his eyes and plopped down on one of the couches, "So, what do you usually do anyway?"

"Nothing really important…I don't know…I live day-to-day…decide what to do a second before I do it."

"Well, tell me the moment you decide to drop dead, you impulsive freak." Squall muttered.

Seifer chuckled and pulled on his shirt just as the bell rang. The brunet's head snapped to the doorway and his hand instinctively moved to the butt of his gun.

"Whoa…Relax tough guy…it's my friends. Damn….get someone killed." Seifer chuckled as he opened the door to three very loud, very talkative friends.

"Heya playboy." A female voice crooned.

Seifer rubbed his nape and a silly smile lit his face, "Selphie…hey guys, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, since when do you care? Got someone over?" Irvine looked over the blonde's broad shoulders and grinned at the brunet standing at the far end of the room, "Well, well…since when have you been hiding that treasure?"

Seifer looked over his shoulder and smiled at Squall, "He's"

"Soooo adorable!" Selphie pushed past her friend and checked out the brunet, "What's your name, pretty boy?"

Squall glared at her then turned to the blonde who waved his hand apologetically.

A third guy with weird blonde hair and a funny tattoo came in holding a hotdog, "You want one?"

Squall shook his head and took a step back away form the group.

Seifer chuckled and pushed his friends away, "Stop overwhelming him, guys. Squall, these are my crazy friends, Selphie, Irvine, and the hotdog lover, Zell."

Selphie was a bouncy girl with whirly brown hair, Irvine, her boyfriend was quieter than his girlfriend but seemed more like a womanizer to Squall. The third was too busy eating to spare Squall a glance.

"Hey there." Irvine grinned and turned to Seifer, "So? Where did you find him?"

Seifer chuckled and sat on a large sofa, pulling Squall to sit beside him, "He's my body guard."

Selphie gasped worriedly, "Why? You got any threats? Your father"

"No…but father thinks I need a babysitter, isn't that right, Squall?"

Silence.

"Well, looks like Squall doesn't like to talk to you." Irvine laughed and sat on the adjoining couch, "So, aren't you going to order pizza?"

"I will." Selphie called and ordered.

Squall frowned in the chaos. 'What the hell…those guys are either so close to Seifer or are damned mad!'

"Here…a movie." Selphie pulled one out of her pocket and pushed the CD into the DVD player.

Seifer smiled at Squall, who looked like a kitten in between lions, "Relax. I've known them for the better part of my life. They're as harmless as flies."

"I never liked flies." Squall muttered.

Seifer chuckled as Selphie turned down the lights and the room quieted down as the movie started. The blonde yawned and lay down, his head resting on Squall's laps.

The brunet gritted his teeth and glared at Seifer, who seemed oblivious to the brunet's reach to such an open display of trust. However minutes later, Squall found no problem in stroking the soft golden locks and Seifer smiled, after all that was a victory, small, but a victory all the same.