Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and all affiliated characters and materials are property of Square Enix.

Love Session
By: Nanaki BH

The mail chute on Squall's dorm door swung closed; a deafening clacking sound in the still silence of the room. He groggily cracked open an eye, displeased to have been woken up for such a stupid reason. The alarm clock from his bed was pulled closer so he could glare at the time through blurry eyes. It was barely eight in the morning and somebody felt they had to be delivering mail to his bedroom. There were better times. Like lunch, maybe. Or even before class. But not before he was even awake.

Well, he figured, he was up either way. He might as well see what the message was he had received. So, after dragging a hand through his hair, he pulled back the sheets and threw his legs over the side of the bed. His eyes focused on the letter with disinterest. It wasn't as much of a letter as it was a card. Squall had been receiving cards all week from people who wanted to wish him a merry Christmas. It was just unfortunate that he didn't know who half of those people were.

He stood and snatched it from the floor, quickly sinking back into his bed. With his head comfortably rested on the pillow, he began to tear it open. The outside was plain and forgettable; simply addressed to Squall's room number but the inside contained a very special looking letter. The paper was sort of pretty, too pretty for Squall's tastes, but he supposed that the letter was from a girl so he let that one slide. He brought it closer to himself and gave it a tentative sniff – as he suspected – it was even scented.

Reading the name at the bottom would've spoiled the fun, especially since the sender had apparently gone out of their way to sign it last anyway. Clearing his throat, he began to read the messy handwriting.

"Dear Squall, Merry Christmas Eve! I decided to drop this off myself. Hopefully it won't be forgotten on my dresser… It's Christmas Eve, isn't it?

"Sorry, I seem to be losing my train of thought. I don't know, I just wanted to send you a letter. I'm sure that you've gotten a lot of better cards and gifts from people already, though. I don't really have much cash on me, so I thought just a normal letter should do. I just want to let you know how much you mean to me. Really, I mean it. You might not believe that, coming from me, but it's true. There aren't that many people in my life who acknowledge me for who I am but you seem to be able to see and understand me like nobody else.

"When you look at me, I just feel so happy. I can't really explain it. It's hard. All I know is that I feel something for you inside. I'm not really sure of what it is, but I know that inside, you're the same kind of person I am. You want to be strong and cool but inside, you're anything but. I can tell that you're a far more sensitive person than you let on. I want to spend more time with you. I want to be close to you. So I guess this is a little more like an invitation. I want you to go with me to the winter festival. I hope you consider."

Squall sat up some, his eyes staring down blankly at the sender's name. "Zell," he muttered to himself. "Hm. By the look of the thing, you would never guess this was from him." He was alone so he allowed himself to grin, amused even more by the scented paper now that he knew it was from a guy.

He dressed quickly and stuffed the letter into his pants pocket, determined to find Zell so he could talk to him about it. He hardly got a few steps outside his own door before he noticed Zell, hanging around with a group of other people. They all looked like they were laughing and joking around but Zell seemed somewhat reserved unlike his usual self. As soon as Squall began to approach, Zell's entourage dispersed, heading off in all different directions, leaving behind one very awkward-looking Dincht.

"Squall," he said around a cough. "Did you get my card?" His nose was incredibly red; just like Rudolph's, Squall thought to himself. Zell looked like he was coming down with some sort of cold. The mother in Squall made him worry a little for him. Just a little.

"Yeah. Scented paper? What were you thinking?"

Zell began to desperately trying to explain, stumbling adorably over his sentences.

"Don't bother explaining. I'll go." He grabbed Zell by the collar and pulled him in, giving him a quick taste of his lips before releasing him, stuttering and blushing. "Make sure you get some medicine before then, dork."

"D-dork?!"

Author's Notes: That was far more in-character than I expected it to be. I'll pat myself on the back now. This was written for a friend who was kind enough to give me a gift for Christmas, too. :3 I hope you liked it!