"And then, just as I thought I had seen the worst of it, a giant very pissed off T-rexuar pummeled into me from behind!" Zell dove forward landing on the ground dramatically.

"Then, I kicked him off me!" His legs thrust upwards. When he was back on his feet again, he heard a clapping sound. His face reddened at Irvine who stood amused in the room's doorway. They had given Seifer his own recuperation room. Which was a good thing for Zell regarding his performances. He also would have been embarrassed had anyone heard his late night confessions to the unprotesting Seifer.

"So, is this what you do with him?" asked Irvine, his girlish lips in a friendly smirk that was so unlike Seifer's challenging one.

He resented Irvine's being there. It was Zell's day with him. The schedule they had formed alternated days and nights. Occasionally Squall or Quistis came by, but Zell didn't mind sharing Seifer with them. They didn't want to spend all their time with him like Irvine did. "What do you do with him?"

"I tell him all about my feminine conquests," joked Irvine. He wasn't about to admit that he just sat and watched Seifer sleep.

Zell snorted. "Figures. Well, I'm not going to do that with him."

"I wasn't suggesting that you do! You do what you want with him."

"Then why are you here on my shift?" demanded Zell angrily. He had always made sure to stay away while it was Irvine's turn, he deserved the same respect.

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't molesting him." It was a joke on the surface, truth in the middle, with a bitterness that carried it into Zell's ears.

"You are the walking hormone!" His voice rose. Zell was dangerous when he was angry. It was the reason he had taken up martial arts in the first place. The intense, packed frustration inside him riding behind every kick and punch. It was a beautiful salvation for Zell who didn't want to end up some kind of jerk who hit his kids. Right now though, the anger was making his body prepare for an attack.

"Holy fuck!" gasped Irvine. His eyes were focused behind Zell, to Seifer's cot. Zell turned quickly. Seifer's beautiful green irises were visible. His eyes were open. "How long has he been watching us?"

Zell was grabbing onto the edge of Seifer's bed before his brain had registered the movement. He hadn't even felt the few steps it had taken. Seifer still remained motionless, but somehow he had pulled back his eyelids. Zell was equally happy and excited. Seifer would pull out of it! The strong-willed bastard could do it!

Irvine felt the cool rush of relief soothe the nerves that had been on edge for 6 days. He had seen the energy take hold of Zell, as the nervous energy left him. Now the two looked at each other joyously. So many hours they had spent caring for the same man. It was ridiculous for them to have been arguing.

"Maybe he doesn't like seeing us fight," said Irvine softly.

"You're right! We've got to work together!" Zell stretched his hand across Seifer and gripped Irvine's tightly. For a moment, each felt something spark. They each attempted to kill the last remnants of rivalry. "I should get Dr. Kadowaki."

As Zell dashed out the door, he wished with all his heart that Seifer wouldn't make any more recoveries before he got back.

"Well look who's awake in only six days!" gushed Dr. Kadowaki. She knew that his recovery would be quick. He was the most stubborn man she had ever met. His eyelashes lowered a teeny bit and raised back up. He could hear her! "Seifer, your friends are here. They've been taking such good care of you!"

Another eyelash jiggle. She wanted to giggle like a happy little girl. It would be okay for poor Seifer. She reached out and touched Seifer's hand. "Do you want to see them? They want to see you."

Zell stepped in from the doorway. He cautiously approached Seifer. Now that Seifer was awake, his crush seemed silly. "Hey Seifer..."

"You scared us buddy," said Irvine. Okay, so that was a lame thing to say. But, what did one say to a near-vegetable? It didn't seem like even talkative Zell had anything witty to say. They all just sort of stared at him. The delightful part being that he stared back. "You two might want to leave now. I need to take some readings from him and take care of all this medical mumbo-jumbo." Dr. kadowaki winked at them both. "He's going to be okay boys. You can sleep."

They could sleep! That was funny. They had been kicked out of the infirmary and now they didn't know what to do with themselves. Irvine just leaned back against a wall in the dormitory looking GQ. Zell was grinning like an idiot. The pent-up happy energy was nearly tearing them both apart.

"We should celebrate!" Zell hadn't partied in a long time and today seemed like the perfect reason to.

Irvine shrugged. He was thinking if Seifer had pulled out of it in six days, what might he be doing by the next morning. He wanted to be there right when Seifer woke up. "Nah, he'll need us."

Zell shook his head unhappily. He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't party. And he had been spending far too much time in the battle room.

"Hey Zell, I was thinking..." That was a serious tone from Irvine. "Maybe you know, if Seifer didn't like us fighting..."

Irvine cut himself off by coughing. Zell hadn't seen Irvine afraid to make a social slip. If there was any diplomat among his friends, it was Irvine.

"Maybe we shouldn't take turns taking care of him. Maybe we should like, work together to help Dr. Kadowaki in any way that we can."

Zell laughed. "You're talking like me Irvine!"

Irvine smiled and tilted his head downwards, the hat covered his eyes. "I feel like an idiot from the way we've been acting."

"Yeah, me too." Zell kicked out the ground a little with his toe. "But starting tomorrow, we are going to right back to helping him and stuff so people may as well get used to it."

Irvine liked seeing Zell with some self-esteem. He had always admired the blonde's amazing ability to remain happy in bad times. Maybe he should go out and party, find a girl. In a deeper part of his mind, he was hoping that maybe if he slept with a girl, it would drive out some of the fantasies he had been having lately of Seifer.