FicWad

They were woken by the chime of an incoming call, and the voice of one of those receptionists that Laguna liked to make fun of, saying, "There's an Irvine Kinneas on the line for you, Mr President. He says it's urgent."

For a moment, Laguna laid very still. Kiros thought he might not get up. But, after a moment, he lifted himself off the bed with a groan, and walked over to the vid-com desk, flicking it on with an angry sort of gesture, telling the receptionist to pass the call through. Kiros stayed still on the bed, watching as the screen flickered, than cleared to the sight of Irvine Kinneas-he had gotten older-and a hotel room behind him.

Laguna was still mostly asleep, and slipped without any thought in Galbadian. "This had better be damn good, kid."

Kiros just heard Irvine, having shut his eyes and turned onto his back. "I told your little receptionist boy not to patch me through if you were in the middle of fucking somebody."

"Language barrier, I'm telling you." Kiros thought he could hear the blush in Laguna's voice, and wondered if the young former-Sniper could see it in the vid-com light. After a moment, Laguna sighed and asked, "What can I do for you, kiddo?"

"I'm in a bit of a pinch with your son and . . . everybody at Balamb Garden."

Laguna actually laughed a little, and Kiros couldn't help but roll onto his said and watch Laguna's back as he spoke. "Hm. Did you fuck somebody you shouldn't have?"

Irvine, dejected: "Yes."

"Did you fuck Rinoa?" Laguna chuckled to whatever Irvine's reaction to that had been. "She looks like her mother. I wouldn't blame you." Kiros thought about throwing a pillow at Laguna's head, but thankfully considered better than that.

"She's not my type."

"Yes, that's right. You like chipper, overly enthusiastic girls who want to blow everything to smithereens." Laguna sighed, shaking his head a little in the half light, before turning his face very seriously toward the screen. "So, how am I helping you, exactly?"

"I need a place to stay until this blows over."

"As in, you're running away from your problems, or-."

Irvine interrupted him with, "Squall kicked me out."

"Lover's tiff," Kiros muttered without thought. Than, after a moment of silence, he swore and covered his face.

"/Really/." There was laughter and potential blackmail in that word. Kiros thought about getting up and turning the vid-com off before this got any worse.

Laguna growled seriously, "If you ever speak to my son again, you say nothing."

"That ashamed, are you?" Kiros tensed, listening carefully for what Laguna had to say about /that/.

"I'm on enough choppy water with him, I don't need him knowing I'm sleeping with one of my best friends." No, I'm not ashamed, that said, much to Kiros' pleasure. I just don't trust my son not to hate me any more.

Irvine chuckled and said, "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care who you were sleeping with, so long as it wasn't Rinoa. Are you going to help me out or not?"

"I'll have somebody pick you up in FH."

Kiros sat up a little, cocking a brow at Laguna's back. "'Someone' is me, right?" Irvine's chuckle echoed off the vid-com, and Kiros flopped back into the pillows

"I'll see you in a couple of days, Uncle Laguna."

"Yeah, yeah, kid. Just don't piss anybody off while you're here, okay?" He flipped the vid-com off, and, groaning, came back to bed.

As he settled down, Kiros muttered, "You're too busy to take in strays, Laguna."

"I'm too /old/, too. But that hasn't stopped me yet." He sounded very tired and stretched thin. Kiros sighed, sliding very close to Laguna and sprawling over him comfortably. Laguna was very quiet, before worriedly wondering, "You don't think he'll say anything, do you?"

"I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you." Just don't let it get to your head. Just don't worry about it. Just don't let it chip your mask.

They slept uneasily.