004. under the weather

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He fought Seifer and had his forehead slashed, went through several years of torture, had Zell and Selphie's constant yelling and shouting in his ear, suffered through Laguna's unbearable desire to put closure on their father-son relationship.

But never ever had a headache like this.

Hyne. He felt fucking awful.

Squall rarely got sick but after going through the cold winters of Trabia from his recent mission for three straight days, he forgot how bad having a damn fever was. He hated it. He hated how he couldn't get on with his work without that despicable throbbing feeling banging against his head. He hated how runny his nose was and how he kept sniffing all the time. His nose was as red as Rudolf.

He lay in his bed, head against his pillow as he wrapped the covers around himself. His room was warm enough but the effects of his fever didn't make it so.

Screw this, he thought.

It was then he heard footsteps coming near his dorm that caught his attention. And they weren't just any footsteps. She liked to make them unique so that he'd know it would be her at the door.

Squall rolled his eyes at that.

Rinoa made herself inside as she held the key card and a few paper bags in her hands. "Hey you," she smiled at him and quietly shut the door behind.

"What is it?" Squall asked, grunting a little at his bluntness, "That didn't come out right."

To his relief, Rinoa just laughed at him. "Gosh, do you want me to leave?"

"No," he said immediately before wincing at the soreness of his throat, "Stay. Please."

Satisfied, Rinoa put the bags down and gave him the glass of water resting on his night stand. "Want me to make you some honey tea or something?" she cooed gently, helping him to drink some of the water.

"Yeah sure," Squall mumbled out and glanced at the bags she brought in, "What did you get?"

"Oh, I did some grocery shopping for you!" Rinoa said, putting the glass down as she shot him a playfully pointed look, "Seriously, Squall? How can you survive on coffee and toast in here? That's so boring!"

He didn't know how either. It was just a routine. He only ever ate one cooked meal a day from the cafeteria whenever he was working at the office. The other times would be when he and Rinoa would have dinner together on their night outs.

I really need to change my eating habits, Squall sighed in his thoughts.

"Anyway," Rinoa picked up the bags and walked over to his small kitchen, "I'll cook up some dinner for you. What do you want? Lamb or chicken? I'm not taking no for an answer, Squall!"

"Chicken," he grumbled, unsure how to react about his girlfriend practically babysitting him.

"With chips or veggies?"

"...Chips," Squall answered meekly. He was okay with his vegetables but if chips were ever on the menu… he'd take it within a second.

On second thought… "You can add broccoli too." Because he loved broccoli.

Rinoa giggled from the kitchen and prepared his honey tea before bringing it over to his hands. "You have the eating habits of a five year old, Squall."

He frowned, though it probably looked like a pout to her. She placed a soft kiss against his flushed cheek and then another on his forehead. "Kidding, kidding. You're such a sour puss, you know that?"

"Whatever."

"You know mister, I don't think you're in the position to be scoffing and rolling your eyes at me!" Rinoa wagged her finger at him, "You may be the Commander, but even that doesn't stem the fact that you're Mr. Boogie lips right now."

He groaned again, his cheeks reddening out of embarrassment. "Please don't call me that."

She leaned in and teasingly bumped their noses together. "Only because you said please."

Squall pulled away and rested his head against the headboard of his bed as Rinoa started cooking. The aroma of the food filled his half blocked nose. He enjoyed her cooking and he'd pick it over anything else he's ever had. There was just something so… Rinoa to it. She knew what he liked and disliked from the get go and would never make him eat things that would make him barf. Like shrimp.

He watched her scurry and roam around his kitchen, putting all the extra things she bought for him away and then going back to the stove to check on the food. Ever so slightly, he felt his lips curving upwards at the sight. "Rinoa," he called out before he could stop himself.

The raven haired female poked her head from the kitchen. "Yes?"

Squall paused for a pending moment, his cheeks warming up again. I love you.

Rinoa snorted out a laugh, perfectly reading his mind. "I love you too."