One of my silliest hobbies is envisioning what characters would do if they found themselves trapped in a situation where they both need to sleep, but there's only one bed available. There's a surprising amount of scope for variation in an 'oh, no, there's only one bed' scenario, and it's interesting to think about how different character combinations would react to it!
Occasionally, people have asked me how particular Final Fantasy VIII characters would react to an 'only one bed' situation, and here are the results!
tiny_ninja asked what would happen if Squall Leonhart had to share a bed with Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII. It took me a moment to pin down a potential scenario here! I’m going to assume that Cloud is a SeeD and they’re on a mission together.
These boys are both terrible at communication, which is a real disadvantage when there’s only one bed.
Squall doesn’t like sharing a bed, but he’s entirely pragmatic about it. They’re on a mission; they’ll need to be well rested; there’s only one bed in their lodgings. Therefore, they’ll be sharing the bed.
This is so self-evident to Squall that it does not occur to him to communicate his thoughts to Cloud. He just climbs into the bed, expecting Cloud to do the same.
From Cloud’s perspective, Squall has just claimed the bed without a word. It’s pretty presumptuous, but Cloud can’t be bothered to argue about it, so he just beds down on the carpet. Squall is mildly perplexed by this but concludes that Cloud must prefer to sleep on the floor.
The next night, Cloud takes the bed first in a slightly passive-aggressive move. He’s very confused when Squall just climbs in next to him and goes to sleep.
marmolita asked what would happen if Seifer and Zell found themselves in a room with only one bed, which is extremely funny to picture.
Seifer says he’ll sleep on the floor, because obviously the Chicken-wuss won’t be able to get to sleep unless he’s in a nice soft bed. Zell, livid, point-blank refuses. Of course, now that he’s implied that sleeping in a bed is somehow weak, Seifer can’t take the bed either.
They both end up sleeping on the floor. That’s a waste of a perfectly good bed, guys!
runicmagitek suggested Zell and Rinoa in an 'only one bed' situation.
"I like to sleep on the right," Rinoa says. "Is that okay with you?"
"Uh, why wouldn't it be?" Zell asks.
Rinoa shrugs. "I don't know, maybe you like that side too?"
It takes Zell a moment to process why that might be an issue.
"Wait," he says. "You want to share?"
"There's only one bed, right?" Rinoa asks.
"Yeah, but I—" Crap, he's blushing. Which is a normal reaction, right? It's just that he wasn't expecting this; Rinoa will understand. Right? "I thought you might want to sleep in shifts or something."
"Oh, it's fine," Rinoa says. "Angelo sleeps in my bed all the time."
So, in Rinoa's eyes, sharing a bed with Zell is... basically the same as sharing a bed with a dog? He has no idea how to feel about that.
The fact that she doesn't seem to be finding this awkward at all does help it feel less intimidating, though. It's not a big deal, he guesses.
In the end, Zell sleeps pretty well.
I'll probably add more character combinations to this page later on! If there's any combination of Final Fantasy VIII characters you'd personally like to see in a room with only one bed, feel free to request them in the site guestbook.