Author's note: a little idea I had thanks to "Hey, sweetheart 2024", an event hosted by Ficwip (check their Tumblr, it's amazing): the challenge is to use "sweetheart" in a story. So I concocted this story about how Squall and Rinoa (yeah, big surprise right?) start using pet names for each other, including the daily prompt "a calendar or planner" for February 14th. Enjoy!

PET NAMES

It's quiet.

It's bright.

It's how he likes it.

Balamb Garden is usually a buzz of activity, but today students and staff seem particularly over-excited about something Squall can't pinpoint. He just knows they were loud enough to drive him out of the Cafeteria before he got the chance to order some coffee to bring to his office, and the usual bustle and chattering of the early morning have been replaced by giggles, sometimes loud laughs, and a general boisterousness that Squall finds a tad bit obnoxious.

But his office is quiet; the Trabian snow reflecting on the tranquil waters they are navigating makes it bright and kind of cold, but it's the kind of cold he likes; and there are no giggles and laughs, here, and he can feel at ease again.

He sits down at his desk, waiting for the computer to boot up while shuffling all the documents in his inbox tray. He almost misses Xu right now – she has a knack for organizing stuff, and he's just messy. He was raised a soldier, after all – results over form. Battles over documents.

He is trying to quickly scan the astonishing amount of documents that sit in his inbox tray, vaguely wondering whether it would be such a big deal if he dropped them all in the waste bin, when someone gently knocks on his door, and before he can even say anything, Rinoa sticks her head in.

"Hi! Can I come in?" she asks with a bright smile.

"Sure," he says, gesturing to the armchair in front of his desk. She gleefully ignores him, drops her messenger bag on the chair he just offered her, goes around the desk, and plops down on it, planting her butt on his documents and kicking her legs in front of her.

She looks at him, kind of expectantly, with a bright smile and slightly rose-tinted cheeks. For a moment, he just looks at her, appreciating her simple, effortless beauty. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun, held in place by a pencil, and she is swamped in a fluffy light-blue cardigan that looks a little too big for her small frame, considering how her left sleeve is falling down her shoulder, worn over a simple white shirt and faded blue jeans. His ring is still sitting proudly on the swell of her breasts, and he can't help but smirk a little when he realizes it's his mark on her. That, and a small, fading hickie between her neck and shoulder.

"What are you smiling at?" she asks.

He chuckles. "You may want to cover that," he says, fingering the neckline of his shirt. She watches him, without understanding, and when finally realization dawns on her she pulls the sleeve of her cardigan back up on her shoulder, adjusting her clothes so that her hickie is covered again.

"Ouch," she comments, with an embarrassed blush. "Guess half of the Garden already saw it, though."

"It's already fading," he replies with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'm sure they didn't notice."

"What if I wanted them to notice?" she asks, surprising him once again. She can be shy and embarrassed one moment, and bold and flirting the next.

For once, he decides he can try and be bold and flirting, too. In the privacy of his room, of his office, of the places he considers his, he can be slightly more open, he can give himself a little more freely. "If that's the case, I can give you another one," he says, and she chuckles, happily swinging her legs. "Though I don't think anyone will notice. I don't know what's happening, but it's annoying."

"Aw, come on, don't be a party pooper!" she says, with a knowing smile. "It's Valentine's! Couples are extremely in love today. Be nice."

"It's what?"

"Valentine's!" she repeats, and when she realizes he truly doesn't have the slightest idea what she's talking about, she adds, "A day for couples to express their love and affection."

"Why only a day?" he asks. It sounds so dumb to him, but he guesses he has no experience whatsoever in expressing love and affection to the girl you're with. Hickies aside. And many other things aside too, if he wants to be honest. Maybe he could ask Irvine, but then he remembers how his friend's idea to set him up with his crush was leaving a dirty magazine – an open dirty magazine – for the two of them to leaf through, so maybe Irvine's not the best person to seek advice from. Those many other things would probably make him proud, though.

Rinoa shrugs. "I don't really know either. I just know it was something huge in Timber. I guess it was something nice everyone could do without having soldiers on their tails." She gently grasps her rings in her hand. "They used to play my mother's song all day. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing Eyes on Me. It was so beautiful and… so sad. Made me miss her even more."

"I'm sorry," he says, reaching out with his hand and closing it around her knee.

"This is my first real Valentine's Day, you know? As a girlfriend in love, I mean," she says, and he squeezes her knee, snatching a laugh from her, dispersing the melancholy mood that threatened to wrap around them. "And I have something for you."

She stretches on his desk to reach inside her messenger bag, and he awkwardly moves his hand away. She is moving a little too suggestively, and all that talking about hickies – and to be fair, all that thinking about all the other things that would make Irvine proud of him – are clouding his mind a little too much. Having found what she was looking for, she straightens up, oblivious to the path his thoughts have followed, and sheepishly gives him a present, wrapped in silver paper.

"What's that?" he asks, swallowing.

"A present, dummy," she replies, pushing the object into his hands. "For Valentine's."

"…But I didn't get you anything," he replies, but she shakes her head.

"No need to! I just saw it in Balamb and…" She makes a vague gesture with her hand, and silence stretches between them, as he watches the present and she watches him, waiting for him to move. When she realizes he is… stunned, for lack of a better word, she sighs, overdramatically. "Come on, it's not going to open itself! I have a class to attend, and Mr. Aki is sooo not happy about being my tutor for my University classes. And my boyfriend didn't even try to pull some strings and spare me from that misery! You really have to work to plant that hickie on my neck right now, so-" and she makes exaggerated gestures with her arms. "Start working on it by opening the present!"

He chuckles, shaking his head, and starts unwrapping the present. His fingers immediately appreciate the soft material under the wrapping paper, and when he finally unwraps the gift entirely, he finds himself staring at a black leather planner, with Griever's profile printed in silver on its cover. It looks so elegant. So simple, yet perfect. So him.

"So, do you like it?" she asks with a small voice, nervously swinging her legs back and forth.

"It's…" He lightly caresses the leather cover, opening the planner to see what's inside. Slot for cards, a pen loop with an expensive-looking fountain pen… and he laughs out loud when he starts leafing through the pages. "You penciled in your birthday?"

She nods, smiling. It looks like he loves his present, and making him happy, even with something so simple, also makes her feel giddy with happiness.

"What kind of boyfriend do you think I am? I would never forget your birthday."

"Pff," she scoffs, jokingly. "Sweetheart, you managed to forget your own birthday. Of course I wanted to be safe rather than be sorry! I penciled in all our friends' birthdays, for good measure."

"What?" he says, eyes widened.

"I know, I know. The Guardian Forces made me forget is a nice excuse, but you can't use it for forgetting your own birthday, really. And-"

"No, I meant…" He swallows, feeling his mouth suddenly – and weirdly – parched. "I meant. What did you call me?"

"Sweetheart?" she says, without understanding what's the big deal.

"Yeah. It's just-" He shakes his head, trying to find the right words for what he's feeling. Something warm, something caring, something… cherished. Something he's not quite sure he deserves. "I don't think I deserve it, I guess."

"You're overthinking again," she gently scolds him. She takes the planner from his hands and puts it on his desk, so she can glide, almost sensually, to sit in his lap. "It's just a pet name. Because I'm a silly girlfriend in love and I want to call you something nobody else will ever call you," she says, planting a quick peck on his nose. "And I know you're probably embarrassed and going to be all stud on me. I won't ever call you sweetheart when someone can hear me. I know you're a strong, proud, and scary lion," she jokes, touching her forehead against his. "But you're also a kind and generous and tender person and I feel so proud to be the one you choose to be vulnerable with and-" She chuckles, a little nervously, but then she feels his arms closing around her, his fingers pressing into the fluffy material of her cardigan. "And I am sorry, I won't use it again if-"

"Now you are the one who's overthinking it," he says, snaking his hand under her cardigan to caress her back in the way that always manages to make her relax. And she does, stretching against his chest. "You're not a silly girlfriend. And you can call me whatever you want. Of course, I will deny I ever said this and retaliate with hickies if necessary."

"Of course," she smiles.

"Does this mean I can use a pet name for you, too?"

"If you want," she says, brushing a lock of his hair from his face. "I won't mind."

He nods, his hand still nestled under her cardigan, while the other one starts idly caressing her thigh. "Thank you for your gift," he says, and she nods.

"You're welcome. I hope it can help you with your work when Xu is not here to organize it." She looks at his inbox tray, finding it unusually empty, and then looks back at him with an inquisitive stare.

"You were sitting on my work for the day," he says, with a smirk. "And I'm sure your planner will help a lot. Still unnecessary to pencil in your birthday," he adds, with a warm smile and a slow, gentle move of his hand up and down her back.

"Yeah mister, you will never get me to agree. You forgot your birthday-"

"Guardian Forces and Esthar's Elnoyles. A lot was going on at the time."

She sighs. "Fine, fine, I guess you're right," she says, shrugging. "But since I was putting in all our friends' birthdays, it seemed bad to exclude only mine. I didn't want to assume."

"You would have assumed right," he whispers, squeezing her thigh.

She gives him a smoldering smile, leaning in to kiss the scar on his forehead. "And you say you don't deserve to be called a sweetheart!"

He chuckles, and they let the joke linger between them, and after a few moments of comfortable silence, Rinoa sighs, looking at him again. "Coffee together in a couple hours?" she offers, and she claps her hands happily when he nods.

"I hope everyone will be in class, so I don't have to put up with this Valentine's crap," he grumbles, and she giggles.

"Be-"

"-Nice, I know. It's annoying anyway." Then he gives her a slow smirk. "Of course, you can join me here, so I can give you that hickie we were talking about."

"Ooof, think you're so smug, eh?" she says, pretending to be offended, only to be crushed against his chest and kissed senseless. She pinches his side, swallowing his chuckle, and pushes him away with a breathless laugh.

"That's cheating. You pinched me where it tickles."

"' Course I did. I like it when you laugh!" She stands up, needlessly brushing her thighs just to draw his eyes there. "Hickie aside, I will join you later here. I like how you are when we're alone."

He is silent for a few moments, watching her as she adjusts the pencil holding her bun in place. "Yeah," he whispers, without moving. "I like how I am when we're alone, too."

She gives him a warm smile and closes her messenger bag. "Later then. I'll bring coffee and chocolate muffins!"

She has taken only a couple of steps when he calls her back. "Rinoa, wait!"

In a spur-of-the-moment decision, he opens a drawer of his desk and takes out a small package, wrapped in light blue paper with a delicate stars motif. He goes around his desk and leans on it, as she comes closer, setting once again her bag on his armchair.

"Here," he says, pushing the present into her hands.

"But you said you didn't get me anything!" she exclaims, searching his face for the truth.

"I didn't," he insists, scratching his head in a very Laguna-like way. "But it seems like Valentine's is about showing affection, so… here," he repeats. "It was meant for your birthday, but-"

"It's ok, you'll give it to me on-"

"No, Nini – I want you to have it now."

She looks at him with a slow smile. "Nini?" she asks, tilting her head.

"Yeah." He doesn't really know how he came up with this pet name – he just knows nobody else calls her Nini and he wants to have something special. Something his. He may be her sweetheart, but he wants her to be his Nini. Still… "You don't like it?"

She taps her chin with her finger. "It makes me feel… petite. Delicate. And kind of cherished and protected. Nobody has ever called me Nini. It's usually Rin, or Noa, or Noni."

"Good, then," he says, and his eyes are somewhat vulnerable, and tender, and she feels even more cherished. "I'm a silly boyfriend, too. I want to call you something nobody else will ever call you, too."

"Nini," she breathes, and she giggles, feeling like a schoolgirl with her crush – which she is, to be fair, and it feels so good. "I like it."

"Now open your present," he says, lightly placing his hand on her hip.

She carefully unwraps the gift, running her finger on the smooth surface of an iridescent black box. She finds the latch and snaps it open, gasping when she sees what's inside: a wooden hair stick, with a mother-of-pearl top representing an angel wing. She runs her finger on it, feeling the dips on its carved surface.

"Do you like it?" he asks, softly, as his hand squeezes her hip, betraying how nervous he feels, all of a sudden.

She opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out. She giggles, a little sheepishly, and then she looks at him with sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks. "I adore it," she manages to croak out, finally.

"I thought it would-" he starts to say, trying to find a nice way to compliment her without sounding too stupid, or too awkward. He doesn't need to worry, though. He watches as she takes the pencil holding her hair and pulls it out, shaking her head to free her long locks. Then, she starts twisting them in another messy bun, pushing her new stick in to hold it in place.

"How does it look?" she asks when she's done.

"You're beautiful," he replies, and he smiles when she chuckles.

"That's not what I asked!"

"That's what I meant."

She blushes, shaking her head. "I'm sorry you felt forced to give it to me now though. I-"

He takes her hand in his and laces their fingers together, silencing her with a light kiss. "It's my first real Valentine's as a boyfriend in love, too. I wanted to give it to you."

"But you said you hate Valentine's…"

"No, I said everyone is being annoying about it. Which is still true."

She smiles, freeing her hand to throw her arms around his neck and press a kiss on his lips. "Thank you then. It is lovely. I adore it."

"You're welcome," he replies. "Dinner at my place, tonight? You can bring Angelo, too."

She smirks. "And some special clothes I bought just for you, too? What do you think?"

He doesn't smile, but his eyes are smoldering enough to send a shiver down her spine. "Seems like I've been working very hard to put that hickie on you, and it's working. Guess I don't have to pull some strings to get you out of that tutoring with Mr. Aki?"

"I'll manage," she shrugs, tracing his lips with her finger. "I'm sorry, I smudged your lips with my lipgloss. Whoopsie?"

He licks his lips and then rolls his eyes in jest. "At least it's a different flavor this time."

"It was Selphie's fault! She insisted on the pumpkin pie one. I didn't know it would be so weird!"

"It was Selphie's advice, of course it would be weird."

"Be nice," she says, gently freeing herself from his embrace. "Plus, if you can mark me with your hickies, I can mark you with my lipgloss. It's only fair."

He shrugs. "As long as it's not pumpkin pie flavored."

He watches as she grabs her bag again, slightly adjusts her cardigan to make sure her hickie is covered, and looks at him one last time. "Happy Valentine's, sweetheart. See you later for coffee and muffins."

"Happy Valentine's, Nini."

She smiles at him once again before closing the door behind her, and he sits down again with a sigh, gently tracing the profile of the silver Griever on his planner – something she probably had custom-made, by the looks of it – realizing a bit too late he is smiling at her thoughtfulness.

Yeah.

He is a silly boyfriend in love. And he truly likes how he is when it's just his Nini and him.

And with the idea of being able to share coffee and muffins later, and dinner together later on, and to be honest, also the idea of planting another hickie on her neck and maybe doing all those other things that would make Irvine proud of him, the pile of documents in his inbox tray doesn't look so unbearably unmanageable anymore.

Author's note: standard note about English being my second language, so if anything feels weird let me know. Grammarly helps only so much!