He was still being dragged by his hands as the other two flagged down the rest of their party and jumped aboard the Ragnarok. Selphie was in the pilot seat before the hatch was even closed. Quistis barely made it in time, arms full of some new chocobo items. For his part he sat quietly in the conference room, hat pulled over his face, just trying to regain his sense of normalcy. If everyone else was seeing it then he couldn't be crazy, right? For some reason he still had his doubts.

He hung on as the vehicle banked sharply before settling down. The thundering of boots overhead and the excited yells echoing through the air conditioning vents told him they had arrived. He closed his eyes, hoping they would forget he was here. No such luck when Quistis came in quietly and told him he was needed. Trust in the ex-teacher to remember everything. He rolled his eyes but followed her out.

Selphie, Zell, and Squall had already engaged the thing. Rinoa sat in the grass close by, watching with a slight look of boredom. He stood beside Quistis for a minute, guarding the entrance to the craft, before he headed over to Rinoa. She gave him a wry grin as he approached and patted the ground beside her. He was happy to see her in a good mood. The incident at the sorceress memorial still upset him; he couldn't imagine how she had dealt with it.

"Hey, Irvine. Sit and watch the show."

"What's going on? Is it tough to beat?"

"Nah, Squall scanned it first thing. I think Selphie has decided to fight it in handstand formation the whole time and these are Zell's gloves."

"I'm surprised our stony-faced commander is allowing that." He smiled at her as she giggled.

"He's hoping it will tire them out. When he saw you guys running back he thought you looked like you'd taken them both on and lost. I think he means it as a favor." They both laughed at that before he groaned.

"I feel like I took them both on." He noticed her concerned look and instantly felt bad for saying anything. Rinoa did not need anymore stress. He heard a whip crack and looked over to see Quistis plucking the feathers off of a dead cockatrice. A moment later he felt a cool comforting glow envelope him. His eyes rolled back and he started to fall into a trance, lost in waves of pleasure.

When he opened his eyes again he was staring up into the worried faces of Squall and Rinoa. They broke into little relieved smiles as his eyes focused. The fingers running through his hair stopped and he missed their presence. He felt a worn leather glove grasp his arm.

"Sorry, Irvine. I think my spell was too strong." He was reeling still as he fought to sit up from her lap. Squall's hand tightened and held him upright. He looked into the gray eyes and nodded his thanks. The commander nodded back. Rinoa's voice broke in again. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head to clear it a little before answering. "I'm fine, darling, thanks. That was some heal, though. It felt like the best lay I'd ever had." At this she giggled and Squall let out an exasperated breath. More laughter followed and he looked around to realize that everyone had gathered around him. Selphie went to her knees in front of him and gave him an enthusiastic hug before jumping back up to dance a victory jig.

"We fought the plate thing. It was called UFO. Really easy, but he dropped an Aegis Amulet, woo-hoo! The GF's are going crazy, each one promising me more power if I give it to them. It's like a smack-down wrestling match in there." She tapped her forehead twice to emphasize her point.

He looked around again. "So, where is it?"

"It flew away, man, but I think I know where it's going. It was beat up pretty bad. I feel sort of down about it, now." Zell did look a little sorry, though he was rubbing his temples like he had a headache.

The hand on his arm let go and he swayed a little, still feeling a little euphoric. He glanced behind him to see Squall pulling Rinoa up. "I feel a little tired. I think I'm going to rest while we fly some more." Squall frowned as she looked at him. "Can we go find the UFO? We should make sure it's okay." Zell and Selphie both stopped rubbing their temples and looked at Squall. The commander looked around before sighing.

"Okay, fine. But let's get moving." Zell and Selphie both cheered and raced back towards the Ragnarok. He groaned and fell back. He thought he'd seen the last of that demon. He was surprised to feel a soft hand grab his right and the glove grab him under the arm. "Come on, Kinneas." They hoisted him to his feet, Rinoa still looking a little sheepish. He felt sad again as he looked from her to Squall's worried glare.

"Chin up, beautiful. I really do feel great." She looked a little better and he felt the commander relax next to him. It felt good having the tension that always followed Squall release a little, but he couldn't resist teasing the man. "In fact, " He threw an arm around Rinoa's shoulders, causing her to look back up, "let's both go down to the break room and I'll tell you all about the time Little Squally here lost his swim trunks." As he felt the tension quickly come back into the air he reached over and ruffled Squall's bangs, earning him a glare and smack on the arm.

"Whatever…." He and Rinoa both laughed as Squall began to stride away towards the ship and followed after him, just out of gunblade range.

"It was like this. We had dared Squall and Seifer both to……" He started in on his story, ignoring the death threats shot his way as they entered the cargo bay.