Disclaimer: I do not own Dissidia:FF or any related aspects, which belong to their respective owners. No money made.

Summary: "I vote for making Garland see how many expressions he can get out of WoL," says Alex Damien. And Mei, being the Garland/WoL fan that she is…

Rating: T

Warnings: Yaoi, shounen-ai, violence, language, sexual themes.

[Dissidia:FF] Stressor [Garland/Warrior of Light]

It had been a while since the two had crossed blades. For the past few hours, the Warrior of Light and Garland had alternated between conversation and mild attempts at violence. Lately the amount of actual fighting being done was close to none. Ironic, actually, considering that the two always approached each other with weapons drawn. These would quickly be placed leaning against a column, or be vaporized into nothing for later (usually nonexistent) use.

But today, they had decided to fight a bit- not as enemies but… acquaintances? Training partners? Sparring buddies? Garland wasn't sure where they stood at this point.

One thing was for sure though, to Garland's secret delight- the two were no longer the enemies they had been in the past.

Clang. Swish. Clang, clang.

"You handle such a large weapon very well." The Warrior of Light poised his shield above his chest, taking a few deep breaths before regaining a fighting stance.

Garland almost asked which one before realizing that such insinuation was absurdly perverse and not at all dignified. He felt his cheeks burn just from the thought and thanked his armor for keeping it from view.

"You're quite the swordsman yourself, you know." A few more clangs of metal against metal, some destruction of the environment, and the two decided at the same time to take a much-needed rest.

It was odd- they seemed to be entirely in sync with each other. Garland didn't know if it was because they had come from the same world, or because they had some sort of… mental connection of some sort, but whenever one felt weary, energized or otherwise, the other picked up on it.

It was odd, but not at all unwelcome.

Garland broke the ground with his large, angular sword, and propped himself against it. "I was thinking about us."

The Warrior stared at him from against a pillar, one delicate eyebrow raised high. "Us."

It was a statement, not a question. Garland shrugged. "Have you not noticed the connection between us? Our movements, thoughts, they're all synchronized to some extent. Our emotions, too."

"Our emotions? Are you suggesting that you know how I am feeling right now, at this moment?"

Garland took the Warrior's unbelieving tone as a challenge. "You're feeling conflicted. You're unsure how to act around me because you're reluctant to accept me as anything but your enemy."

The Warrior grimaced. "True."

"Don't think so hard," Garland said, getting to his feet and approaching the other man "you need to learn to see things in color. Hell, you need to learn to see things in shades of gray. Everything has to be black and white to you."

"That's not-" Well, the Warrior pondered, maybe there was some degree of truth in the statement. But it wasn't that he didn't see the in-between of things… it was more that it was easier to see things as good and evil, light and dark, black and white…

He was formulating a witty and detached response when, suddenly, the ground moved.

"Wha-"

"Damn," Garland swore. Omega.

Everything collapsed beneath their feet, and Garland air dashed towards the Warrior, who was too surprised to move. What the hell? The stage hadn't been changing before. Why all of a sudden?

They fell.

And Garland landed.

And the Warrior of Light landed- on Garland.

"…"

"…"

Garland growled in annoyance, back aching from the suddenness of the impact, and tilted his head down to glance at his archrival. Said archrival was speechless, blushing, and straddling Garland's torso.

The armored knight raised a brow beneath his helmet. "Is there any particular reason why you remain on top of me, or is the metal of my armor just that comfortable a cushion?"

And Garland had made the Warrior of Light embarrassed.

[A/N] It's been a while, but now that my fanfic The Essentials is over I am coming back to complete this fic~

I have maybe two chapters left that are planned out before the story's conclusion.

For anyone curious, this story takes place before the 012 cycle, a cycle the gamer does not get to see. Originally, I was going to say that the story took place one cycle before the events of Dissidia, but then Duodecim came out... I had to accommodate that.

Thank you very much for reading... please welcome me back! C: