If they'd done this as cadets, maybe things would have been different. Maybe Squall would have been brave enough to petition on Seifer's behalf after the SeeD exam. Maybe they both would have gone to Timber. Maybe they could have stopped Edea at the onset of Ultimecia's possession of her...Maybe the threat of her wouldn't still nag like a splinter under his nail.

Whatever they might have done, it wouldn't have been this. He'd have been too guarded, too cagey, too scared. He's none of these things as he goes for Seifer's throat, biting along his jawline and down his neck in retalliation for the way Seifer pulls back. Distance has been Squall's enemy all these years in his search for the other man and he'll be damned if he lets it get in the way again.

"Then put your hands to work," Squall grunts without sympathy, already utilizing his own to do just that. Releasing Seifer's hair is a sacrifice but one his hips strain to appreciate as he drops his hands between their bodies to begin undoing the button of his pants, paving the way for Seifer like he's doing him a favor purely because Squall knows it'll incense him.