006. busy

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Squall leaned back against his desk chair, craning his neck to get rid of the strain and aches he'd been enduring the entire time he'd been in his office for the day. The paperwork was done, Xu's constant bossing him around was done, Quistis's lectures were done.

Thank Hyne. Never thought I'd say this but I need a god damn break.

He stood up, wincing a little at the strain in his legs and shook off the pins and needles threatening his feet. It was just past seven in the evening. Usually, he'd be at it till close to midnight but since he literally zoomed through the paperwork and did his best to drown out the noises that came into his office, unattended, and completed everything at lightning speed. He should get a medal.

Walking towards the exit door of his office, he wondered what Rinoa would be up to around this time.

As if on cue, Rinoa was walking, more like rushing past when he came out. "Hey-"

"Hey!" she quickly smiled at him, a pile of books in her arms. Squall thought she'd stop for him but to his complete bewilderment, she hadn't and kept walking and disappeared into the corner of the hall.

Squall blinked as the door shut behind him. Well, that was odd.

She only started working as Cid's assistant yesterday so she was probably busy. Nothing to worry about there. He'd just grab some food and go back to his dorm for the rest of the night.

…

The next day after burning himself out in the training centre, Squall stepped out of the shower and dried off his hair. When he got dressed in a white t-shirt and black cargo shorts, he made himself some coffee and sat at his desk to go through any emails he received.

He snorted to himself. Yeah. Talk about a day off.

A knock sounded from his door and reluctantly, the young commander got up and answered it.

Rinoa stood there with a pile of folders in her hands and she poked her head out to the side so he could see her. "Hey! Cid wanted me to drop these off for you."

Squall took some of the folders into his arms and stepped aside so she could come in. "Thanks."

Rinoa smiled and put away the rest of the folders into his shelf. He almost didn't even have the time to speak with her as she was already almost out the door. "Do you want to have lunch together at the cafeteria?"

The raven haired turned around and blinked. "Lunch?" she repeated and quickly sent him an apologetic look, "Aw I'm sorry, Squall. I can't since I have a meeting with Nida and Xu about arrangements for some renovation for the library."

"...Oh." Squall tried not to sound disappointed, but there was a wary edge in his tone he couldn't cover, "It's okay."

Rinoa nodded, sweetly blowing him a kiss before walking out of his room.

Squall looked at the door shutting and stared at it for Hyne knew how long.

He'd be lying if he said that Rinoa rejecting his invitation didn't hurt, because it did. Oh, it did. What the hell was Cid making her do for her to become so… distant? Was that the correct term?

It was just… Squall couldn't remember a time of no's and cannot's from her whenever he'd ask her to… be with him. She'd always jumped on the opportunity when she could, followed by a lecture about how he should start making time for her more often. He'd pretend to listen to her then, his hand just being clutched around hers in hopes it'd stop her from talking.

I'm probably overthinking it.

He shook his head and carried on with his work. Whatever.

…

"Hey-"

"Hey! Sorry Squall, I'm in a rush to get these to Xu! You know how she is."

He didn't even get to say anything else as Rinoa disappeared into the elevator he just got out of. Watching the doors close behind her, Squall frowned and looked away before anyone could question him.

That was the third time she blew him off.

It shouldn't have bothered him. Her job was completely valid and he accepted it just like she did with his.

But damn, it sucked. He tried calling her yesterday and he was left on voicemail three times before he gave up and went to bed. She didn't even bother calling him back.

Pathetically, he even tried getting through to her with their bond but failed since there was no threat towards her. And the last thing Squall felt like doing was being intrusive.

...When did he become so desperate for Rinoa's attention? Wasn't it always the other way around?

…

It was the last straw when Cid told him that Rinoa went to Timber to see Zone and Watts the next morning.

He was all right with Watts, to an extent. However, Zone was a different story. Squall wasn't jealous by all means, but it was obvious that Zone had feelings for Rinoa prior to their relationship and the commander couldn't help but feel uneasy whenever he saw the man alone with her.

Yeah, okay. He was a jealous bastard, so what? He and Zone disliked each other from the start. Their tension only grew worse when he began dating Rinoa.

But still… that didn't change the fact that Rinoa just left like that. She could've called him, emailed him, texted him. Anything!

He was staring at his phone, wondering, hoping that she would at least do any of those things but after waiting for what felt like an eternity, Squall shoved his phone back into his pocket and hastily went back to his office.

…

"Hey!" Rinoa's voice happily sounded from the door as she invited herself in.

However being the petty idiot he was, Squall refused to acknowledge her and carried on moving his fingers along his keyboard, his eyes not leaving his computer screen.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight?" she then asked him and from his peripheral, he could see her sitting down on the chair opposite his desk, "Are you up for some Balamb fish?"

He didn't answer.

And he was gripping on his mouse more than he would have liked.

"Squall? Are you okay?" Rinoa's voice was somewhat hesitant and he wanted to wince inwardly because the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but the devil inside his head told him to remain passive when she said, "Did something happen? You look… mad."

Yeah, no shit. Of course I'm mad! You've been ignoring me this entire week!

"I'm busy," he finally told her, his voice abrasive.

"But Squall, we haven't had time alone with each other in forever!" she whined childishly, flailing her arms around.

It was then he sent her a sharp look. "And whose fault is that?"

"What?" The sorceress blinked at him and then realised where he was getting at, "...You're blaming me?"

"You didn't even answer my calls and every time I tried getting to you, you were busy or," he felt his jaw clench as he bit out the next sentence, "You're in Timber without letting me know."

Rinoa stayed quiet, in complete loss of words as she just stared at him.

Squall didn't even know why. She knew what she did! What was there to be shocked about?

Time ticked and it was long before he heard Rinoa's voice again.

"So now you know how it feels," she said, a grin creeping up onto her lips to showcase her amusement.

"What?"

"You know," Rinoa hummed, leaning back against her chair as she crossed her arms, "Being too busy. You've done the same with me so many times! All the times I've wanted to talk to you or just be with you, you'd turn me down. Do you know how deflated I'd be when you'd pick work over me? I understand your job is important, Squall, I really do. But nine times out of ten, I was one suffering the most," she sighed and shook her head, "But now that the roles have been reversed, you definitely realise how I felt, right?"

Squall hunched his shoulders and drifted his gaze away. She had him there and he couldn't even deny it because of how true it was. The guilt was slowly eating him up because yeah, it did feel shitty being turned down all the time, especially from your significant other.

If someone searched up the word 'hypocrite', Squall Leonhart would be the first result.

"...Sorry," he said, meekly looking up at her… though in his regular fashion, he couldn't help but shoot back, "At least you know how it feels to be busy all the time."

Rinoa covered her giggles against her mouth as she nodded. "Oh Squall, you're so impossible sometimes, you know that?!" She joked and went up to him as she leaned down to wrap her arms around his neck, "Just know even if I am busy with work just like how you are, I'll always make time for you in the end, okay?" She left a soft kiss on his lips, "Just like how you do for me! Even though you're always Mr. Pouty face all the time so it's always kind of hard getting you to hang out with me, but you get what I mean!"

"Don't suppose I could ask Cid to cut down your hours?" he asked bluntly and suggested, "Maybe you should work as my assistant instead."

Rinoa playfully rolled her eyes. "Sorry Commander, but no can do," she said, noticing the slight pout forming on his lips, "Aww Squall you're so needy for me, aren't you?! How sweet!"

Heat threatened his cheeks as he scoffed again. "Whatever."

"Whatever," the sorceress mimicked him in a low voice and snorted when he glared at her, "Okay, okay, I'm done. Come on, do you wanna have dinner with me or not?"

Squall looked at his computer and then rubbed his eye, letting Rinoa to pull him up from his chair. "Yeah, sure."

"You freakin' sour puss, at least look happy about it!" She teased him, using her fingers to force a demented smile on his lips, "See? You're even more handsome when you smile!"

Rinoa giggled when he swatted her hands away.