Loyalty

Awake.

Squall didn't know where he was or what was happening.

The last thing he remembered was that he was fighting some deformed beast alongside Irvine and Zell, trying to distract it from Rinoa. He recalled there was a flash of light, and then Seifer was there, and then he remembered shoving Irvine back for some reason.

He felt like he was floating. There wasn't anything he could make out around him. Just darkness and warmth. He could feel a dull ache somewhere distant, but he was too detached from everything around him to pinpoint it. He didn't know what was happening, but one thing stuck out in his mind.

He was lonely. This warm darkness did nothing for comfort. It wasn't unnatural for him to feel alone, but this loneliness... it struck into his core for some reason. He wanted to see something - someone - outside of this blanket of no light.

He could hear a muffled voice somewhere in the distance, though. He knew someone somewhere else was keeping him from being alone, but he couldn't figure out who they were or where they were. He could hear the desperate note in the person's voice and he wanted to wake up and reassure them he was okay.

Squall Leonhart was lonely, and he wanted to stop being lonely. He wanted to see someone, something, anything. Loneliness plagued him many a time, but never before had it been this noticeable. 

Squall wanted to wake up from whatever dream he was floating in. And he was going to do just that.

-

Irvine jerked awake when he felt the figure in front of him stir. It was only the twitch of his hand, but Squall <em>moved.</em> He hadn't moved for weeks. He sat up, staring hopelessly at the gunblader through worried eyes. Gently grabbing Squall's hand, the sharpshooter intertwined their fingers. "Squall?"

The bruised hand of the Commander twitched again. He remained still for a minute longer, and Irvine's heart jumped when Squall lightly squeezed his hand and moved his head to the side with a very soft groan.

"Squall?!" Irvine stood up slightly from his sitting position on the chair, leaning on the bed. The sensation of relief shot up his spine and he stared at the Commander's scarred face.

The gunblader gripped a tad tighter onto Irvine's hand, eyebrows furrowing just a bit. "...'vine..." he rasped in a voice just under a whisper. Glazed over stormy grey eyes cracked open a tad, for a mere second, before they closed again due to the pounding headache currently occupying his mind. He could feel Irvine pressing closer to him, he could feel the relief flooding off the cowboy in waves.

It was a comforting sensation. He wasn't alone anymore. He knew he wasn't, but he wanted to make sure it was real. He wanted to make sure Irvine was really there. His eyes opened very slightly again, a little more this time. It was dark in the room, faint moonlight illuminating the surrounding areas just slightly. Even in his blurry vision, he could make out the dark figure of Irvine leaning over him. Turning his head, Squall focused on their hands.

The cowboy felt tears spring to his eyes and he rested his other hand on Squall's shoulder. "Hey, I'm right here. Take it easy, okay? I'll get the doctor,"

Squall instantly shook his head, letting out a small whine. He tightened his grip on his hand as much as he could, wanting him to stay. Opening his eyes a little more, he moved his glassy gaze up to the sharpshooter's face. The look of pure relief and affection in those blue eyes made him smile somewhat.

"Okay. I'll stay," Irvine sat back down and carded his other hand through Squall's hair, very gently. He smiled very slightly, eyes welling with tears. He was so relieved. "Squall, darlin', you feel okay?" he asked softly.

The gunblader shook his head a bit. He was sore, but be knew Irvine was aware of that and was asking for any deeper pain. He reached up slowly and pushed some stray hair from Irvine's face, tucking it behind his ear. He noticed the sharpshooter had dark rings under his eyes and was looking a tad out of it.

"...'ve you been sleeping?" he rasped very softly, voice still not above a whisper.

Irvine blinked and shrugged. "A little bit. I wanted to be awake when you woke up." He admitted after a moment of silence. "I've been worried, darlin'."

Squall grunted softly in response. He rubbed at his eyes and sat up a bit, wincing at the pain in his chest. He felt Irvine's gentle hand push against his shoulder, wordlessly telling him to stay put. He sighed and obeyed, easing back down as a sudden blast of tiredness hit him like a train.

Irvine noticed the droop in the gunblader's eyes and smiled lightly, tugging up the blanket a little further. "Go back to sleep, Squall. I'll be right here with ya. Promise on me life, I do,"

The brunet turned his eyes up to Irvine and shifted to the side slightly, glancing at the space he'd just made, then back up at Irvine. When the cowboy blinked in confusion, Squall sighed and reached over, grabbing onto Irvine's arm and tugging him towards the bed. "Lay d'n." 

It took a moment for Irvine to understand that the slurred words were "lay down", but when he finally did process them, he let out a soft chuckle. With a slightly amused sigh he obeyed, kicking off his shoes, before crawling into the bed beside Squall. Careful not to agitate the wounds on the Commander's body, he cautiously slid under the covers, comfortably resting on his back. Squall let out a soft snort and shifted closer to the new warmth.

"You sure you feel okay?" Irvine asked again, casually shifting his arm so it served as a pillow for Squall and he was more comfortably sprawled out. "Anything really hurtin'? Unbearably?" he turned his head and gazed at the Commander's scarred face, before glancing down at the bandages securely against his torso. He chuckled lightly, because Squall was started to doze off, his stormy eyes drifting closed and struggling to stay open.

"No." Squall mumbled out, shaking his head a bit as he shifted closer to Irvine. "'m fine..."

"Alright." Irvine smiled lightly and closed his eyes as the Commander did. "...sleep well, Squall." He hummed gently. When he didn't get a reply and he opened his eyes again, he grinned. Squall was already asleep and snuggled securely against him.

"I'll be here when you wake up." Said the cowboy, before drifting off himself.