Of Colds and Bunny Rabbits
This fic was written as a response to a fic challenge, where either Seifer or Squall falls sick and gets whiny... ^^;;
Blah – normal text
//blah// – thoughts
Of Colds and Bunny Rabbits
“Zell?” Quistis tugged on her boyfriend’s hand. “What about this one?
The spiky-haired blonde looked up and regarded the small stuffed toy that Quistis was holding, head tilted to one side.
“A rabbit? Why a rabbit?”
Quistis shrugged. “It’s cute.” She grinned, stroking the long, soft brown fur of the stuffed bunny rabbit.
Zell shrugged. “Okay, anything…whatever we get, it’s not gonna cheer him up anyway…”
“How true…I never knew he could get so *whiny*!” Quistis snickered.
Squall’s head snapped up hopefully at the knock on the door. As Quistis and Zell poked their heads into the room, a look of almost-relief replaced the usual non-expression on his face.
A snicker floated out from the rumpled sheets on the bed. “Hey, puberty-boy, is that an actual *expression* I see on your face?”
The chocolate-haired boy muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Shut up, Seifer.”
The scarred blonde pouted. “Hey Squall,” – here he broke off into a fit of hacking coughs, then continued – “it’s not nice to bully a pitiful, defenceless, sick man, you know.”
“……”
Undeterred by the silence (which he was more than used to by now, after spending the past four hours with only Squall for company), Seifer continued whining, “I mean, I could be *dyin’*, for all you know, and then you’ll regret not being nicer to me…”
Squall simply scowled. He’d been hearing the same thing, in various guises, almost non-stop for the past four hours.
Here, Seifer’s words broke off again as he grabbed a tissue from the bedside table and sneezed into it, then tossed it into the already overflowing bin next to his bed. Sinking back into the soft pillows, he curled up into a ball, clutching the blankets tightly around himself and sighing miserably. “Man, I *hate* being sick…”
Squall’s expression softened almost imperceptibly.
Zell and Quistis chose this moment to enter the room, strolling over to Seifer’s bedside hand-in-hand.
Quistis smiled sympathetically at the scarred blonde. “Hey, Seifer…are you feeling better?”
“No, I’m still feeling awful,” complained Seifer, looking pathetically up at Quistis. “I must’a used up at least five boxes of tissues in the past coupl’a hours, and I’ve been coughing so much that I’ve developed a sore throat…”
Zell grinned. “Who would’a thought…the great and wonderful Seifer Almasy, ex-Sorceress’s Knight, all-around jerk and Scourge of Balamb, brought down by a simple little cold…”
“Hmph.” Seifer pouted, his medicine-doped brain not allowing him to come up with a smart answer to that one.
Squall’s mouth twitched slightly.
Not missing this, the tall blonde narrowed his eyes at his scarred counterpart. “Whaaaatttt?
“……”
He reached one hand out of the rumpled bedsheets to tug plaintively at the edge of Squall’s shirt. “Oi! What’re you laughing at?”
“Scourge of Balamb…” Squall smirked. “It suits you.”
“Heyyyy…” Grabbing yet another tissue to blow his nose, Seifer sniffed disconsolately. “Meanies!”
He turned over so that he was facing away from the smirking trio, and burrowed deeper into the heap of bedsheets.
“You sound like Rinoa,” remarked Squall.
A rumpled blonde head poked up from the mess of bedsheets, looking horrified. “Dear Hyne, *NO*!”
Squall’s mouth twitched again.
“If you’re not careful, you’ll actually *smile* one of these days,” remarked Seifer drily, not without a touch of humour in his voice. Leaning back onto his pillows again, he pouted. “Squallllll….”
“What?”
“My pillows need fluffing.”
Quistis blinked.
Zell’s jaw hit the ground as Squall obediently got up and fluffed Seifer’s pillows for him, an exaggerated expression of long-suffering martyrdom on his face.
Smiling, Seifer snuggled back into his pillows. He was then wracked by another fit of hacking coughs.
Getting up from the chair by the bedside – where he’d been faithfully perched for the past four hours – Squall picked up a glass from the table, filled it with warm water from the kettle, and handed it to Seifer. Quistis and Zell looked on with interest.
The tall blonde took a big gulp of water, then handed it back to Squall. “I *hate* warm water,” he groused. “Can’t I have some ice water?”
He looked at the chocolate-haired boy pleadingly.
“It’ll make your cough worse.”
Seifer pouted. “I don’t care!”
Zell laughed suddenly.
Seifer turned narrowed sea-green eyes on the tattooed blonde. “Why’s everyone laughing at me today?”
“It’s just that,” gasped Zell between chuckles, “you and Squall remind me of this couple I know…the girl always gets really whiny around her boyfriend when she wants to get her way…”
Quistis burst into giggles as well.
Seifer and Squall, meanwhile, wore identical horrified expressions on their faces.
“Me and *puberty-boy*?!?” Seifer demanded, before sneezing again.
Squall stuck out his tongue at the blonde. “I hope I have better taste than that.”
“Hey, you’re not so hot yourself, ya know.” Seifer blew a raspberry at the scarred brunette.
Quistis and Zell looked rather amused.
“Well, I hate to interrupt this adorable little scene – ” Zell began.
The scarred pair looked up, identical sheepish looks on their faces. Quistis, smiling, couldn’t help thinking that they more resembled six-year-olds who’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar than the eighteen-year-old young men that they were.
“ – but Quisty and I have something for ya, Seifer.” finished the tattooed blonde.
Seifer sneezed again. “Really? What?”
Quistis handed over a small plastic bag, grinning. “Open it and find out for
yourself.”Ripping open the plastic, Seifer pulled out the small stuffed bunny that Zell and Quistis had picked out earlier. “Ooh, cute.”
“Give it a name,” suggested Quistis, blue-green eyes twinkling.
Seifer tilted his head on one side and regarded the bunny thoughtfully, illness forgotten for the moment.
“Wellll…” he ruffled the toy bunny’s long, chocolate-brown fur. “It looks kinda like you, puberty-boy.” The blonde turned to grin at a rather disgruntled-looking Squall.
“The rabbit does *NOT* look like me.”
“Yes, it does!” Seifer grinned gleefully. “It’s name shall be…Squally!”
Zell fell off his chair and rolled around on the floor, chest heaving with laughter .Squall’s lips pushed out in a small, adorable pout.
“Don’t *you* get whiny on us too, Squall,” chuckled Quistis. “*One* whiny brat is enough.” She looked pointedly at Seifer, eyes twinkling with mischief.
“Hmph. Fine. I’m a whiny brat,” sniffed Seifer, snuggling back down into the blankets and trying his best to look pathetic. “…but I’m *sick*!” he continued, pouting.
Zell and Quistis simply laughed, and, waving, left the room, leaving Seifer and Squall alone again.
“Squallllll…”
“…what?”
“I’m boreddddd…”
“……”
“I want Hyperionnnnn…”
“……”
Coughing, and a couple of sneezes.
“……”
“Squall?”
“Hn.”
“Could you help me pick up Squally? He fell under the bed…”
“Hyne…do you *have* to call the stupid rabbit that?”
“Yes. He looks like you. And he’s not stupid.” Seifer sulked.
Kneeling down, Squall poked his head under the wooden frame of Seifer’s bed, scrabbling around to try to find the small stuffed toy in the darkness under the bed. Finally finding it, he stood up, banging his head on the frame in the process, and handed the bunny to the scarred blonde, rubbing his aching head ruefully.
“Thanks.”
A long-suffering sigh. “I don’t know why I put up with you.”
Suddenly serious, Seifer rolled over on the bed so that he was facing Squall, and propped his head up on one raised arm. “So why do you?”
“…what?”
Sea-green eyes regarded him solemnly. “Why do you put up with me? Why’d you sit here with me for the past five hours, listen to my whining, force me to take my medicine and cater to my every whim without a single complaint?”
Eyes downcast, Squall muttered something unintelligible.
Seifer blinked. “What was that again?”
“Because…” Squall mumbled, “because I…I…I care…”
The serious look softened. “How much do you care?”
Still refusing to meet Seifer’s eyes, the dark-haired boy simply shrugged.
Sitting up on the bed and stifling yet another sneeze, Seifer swung his legs over the edge of the bed so that he was sitting nose-to-nose with Squall. “How much do you care, Squall?” he whispered softly.
Blue-grey eyes flicked up to meet sea green, then dropped again.
“……”
The tall blonde leaned forward, brushing his lips against Squall’s in a feather-light caress. Drawing back ever so slightly, he whispered, “This much? Do you care this much, Squall?”
Squall’s eyes widened momentarily, then his face lit up with a heart-stopping smile as he leaned forward to capture Seifer’s lips in a breathtaking kiss.
A week later…
Squall sneezed. “Dammit, Seifer…”
The tall blonde grinned sheepishly at his boyfriend. “Sorry…how was I to know that I’d pass you my cold?”
“……” Squall pouted, then sneezed again.
“Does this mean you regret kissing me that day?” enquired Seifer, raising one slim eyebrow.
“No…”
“Good,” grinned the blonde, giving Squall a quick kiss.
The chocolate-haired boy sneezed again. “But still…” He sighed, grabbing another tissue and blowing his nose.
“Aww…poor baby.”
Squall tossed the tissue at the scarred blonde.
Seifer simply laughed and caught the tissue deftly, then, tossing it into the bin, he leaned forward to claim Squall’s lips in another kiss.
“So…another get-well present, huh?” remarked Zell.
“Yeah,” Quistis grinned. “Think they sell blonde bunny rabbits?”