Illusion
Part Three
LEMON RAPE SCENE!!! Sections with names are presented in the character's POV. Not all of the sections are in specific POV. Most are narrative.
Semi Comedy, Semi Romance, Semi Angsty.....blah blah blah....has bits of other stuff...Lemon *cough* (Not until the later parts you hentais..)
Warnings - YAOI-YAOI-YAOI!!! Angst, Rape-not done by Seifer, Flashbacks, Mushiness, tiny amount of Laguna bashing- done by Seifer, Lots of lusting- done by Seifer, Rinoa bashing- done by everyone....
Most of the characters spend the entire story just wondering what the hell is going on.
Illusion
Part Three
Seifer woke up in a bed. Nice, soft bed. Definitely not his own.
The smell of it wasn't right either. It smelled strange, kind of musky but familiar. Almost a good smell.
And there was something licking his face.
He opened one eyes to see a small puppy standing on his chest, looking down at him.
It's tail wagged happily as he weakly reached up and patted it on the head.
Memories flashed as he remembered the alley, remembered Squall saving him.
Remembered that his rib hurt like hell as he tried to sit up.
He hissed in pain and fell back down again.
"Rufus, get down." he heard a voice call and Fujin appeared, picking the dog up and setting him on the floor.
Seifer blinked up at her. "What happened...."
"You got the shit beat out of you." she told him, pressing a damp cloth to his lip and sighed. "Who were they? What did you say to them?"
"Nothing." Seifer told her. "I didn't say anything at all. The guy just ask me if I needed a light then I got pulled into the alley... I saw one of the before.....a few weeks ago. I was walking. He was standing outside a bar. I think he recognized me....." He looked around himself. "Where am I?"
"Squall's room." She told him.
Seifer's face quirked. "Does he know I'm here?"
"He TOLD us to bring you here." The gray haired young woman sighed. "They'd need your ID. He wasn't sure if they'd treat you at the hospital if they knew who you were."
"How long?"
"About six hours. It's three a.m."
Seifer closed his eyes. "Can I have a ride home? I'm staying at the Belhelmel."
"That place is a shithole." he heard another voice call. He turned his head slowly and saw Squall standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms folded over his chest. Seifer was reminded of his past libido rush. "Besides, they'll probably expect you to go back there if they know you stay there. Which they probably do."
Seifer was too tired to think, he hurt too much to argue. "So what am I supposed to do?"
Squall grabbed his jacket from the chair. "I'll take Quistis and Zell with me to grab his stuff. I'll call if there's trouble."
Fujin nodded and watched as he walked out of the room.
"Where'd you get my room key?" Seifer asked, looking up at him.
"We emptied out your pockets." Fujin replied. "You look like shit."
"I feel like shit."
"Well, you look worse."
Seifer gave a light laugh. "Thanks...way to boost a guy's self esteem when he's down." He sighed. "So, where are you tossing me?"
"Here for now." She told him. "We can't send you anywhere else in your condition. He's giving you the bed tonight but it's the couch tomorrow."
"I can't afford rent here." Seifer said, thinking Squall would want something out of the deal. He was surprised that Squall would even allow this.
"I didn't say you'd have to pay any. Just stay out of trouble. We'll find you someplace else soon." Fujin kissed him on the forehead. "Until then, try and be civil with Squall. It's really nice of him to take you in like this considering he hates your guts."
"Only for you, Fu."
Seifer
Squall's house was strange. It was dark, and quiet. There were no party noises, no neon lights.
And the bed smelled good.
I know, I know. Squall's bed. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of cologne he wore. Or maybe it was just him. Guys have a certain smell of their own. Most of them were completely nasty. But I really liked this one.
I couldn't stand it either, because I still wasn't all happy about being stuck here. Knowing I'm in a house with a guy I'm not too particularly fond of, with a guys who completely hates my guts and was most likely doing this for Fujin wasn't making me very comfortable. I didn't want to start anything with him that could get us fighting again. Fujin wouldn't like that and would probably beat the shit out of both of us.
She's the only reason I decided to go along with any of this.
That and the strange feeling I kept getting, like there was something I should have been remembering....
I slept with my face in the pillow. It smelled that good...
There was something seriously wrong with me, I knew it. All the homicidal feelings I had toward him had simmered down. I still wanted to kick his ass and everything, but not to the extent I wanted to before. I remembered all too well what had happened when we fought armed and serious.
One or both of us got maimed.
I have scars from that guy and I'm sure he had a few from me.
I knew Squall was still uneasy about me being around. I still couldn't blame the guy. I figured Fujin had a pretty big influence on him too and that was the only reason why he was allowing me to stay.
Well, the bed was so comfortable, so warm, and smelled so good that I was asleep at almost four o'clock on the dot. My body still hurt like hell but it was nothing compared to how tired I was. I felt like I hadn't slept in weeks.
When I woke up I actually saw the sun shining through the window, and there was a dog sleeping on my pillow.
I was able to walk to the bathroom (huge one too. I was loving this apartment more and more.) and take a piss. I thought about a shower but wasn't sure if Squall would appreciate it so I just walked out into the main room.
His apartment kicked ass.
He wasn't there, but Fujin was.
And so was Zell.
Together on the leather couch.
Necking.
Talk about a wake up call.
"Good morning."
They both jumped away from each other and looked at me, wrapped only in a blanket.
They were busy trying to make up an excuse as I walked to the corner where all my stuff was piled.
Including the fan.
The mutt followed me, sniffing at my gunblade case.
"Where's Leonhart?"
"Work." Fujin told me, standing to help me. "He had to leave early. He has a lot of responsibilities."
"Like finding you a place to crash so he doesn't have to put up with you." I heard Zell mutter.
I can't blame Zell for hating me either. But I still wouldn't let him get off so easy.
"So...chicken-wuss...." I started casually. "Think you can handle Fu huh? Good luck. She's broken guys bigger than you."
Surprisingly, he said nothing.
More of Fujin's doing I suppose.
Squall came back around lunch time and ate. I sat around with Fujin and Zell, watching television. It was Saturday, cartoons were on. Squall spent the last fifteen minutes of his break with the dog, playing with him, feeding him, letting him out. He didn't say anything while he was there.
Not to me anyway. Not that I cared.
Then he was gone again.
Fujin left a few hours later, taking chicken wuss with her. I wandered around the apartment a little, raiding the fridge, tossing one of the pup's toys around, waiting for him to trot back to get it.
That was basically my day.
Fujin came back alone around six with take-out Chinese, explaining to me that Leonhart usually didn't get back from work until around nine or later.
"So," I called as I forked my plate of pork fried rice. "What's with you and Zell?"
"We've been dating for a little more than a year." She told me as she sat down next to me on the couch after putting in the movie she'd rented to the night, "Gladiator". "Be careful with your food, Squall'll have a conniption if you spill anything on it."
"So, what happened to Rinoa?" I asked, glancing over at her. "I thought she and Squall were all mushy and crap."
"SHE was mushy. He wasn't." She corrected. "Rinoa's a whiney little bitch and I'm glad he broke up with her. She wanted too much. I hear she went off and married Zone or something."
I cringed. "God what was she thinking. Even I'D choose Squall over Zone....At least Squall can hold his food down. Then again, Rinoa never was too bright...." I stuffed a forkful of food into my mouth. "God, I can't believe I went out with her..."
"MORON." Fujin nodded.
"So, who's he with now?" I asked.
"No one." Fujin replied. "Joaquin Phoenix is so hot. He plays the emperor in this."
"Yeah, that's nice Fu." I laughed. "So, he's single?"
Fujin looked at me oddly. "Joaqiun Phoenix?"
"Squall."
She blinked. "Why does it matter?"
"I dunno." I shrugged. "Just curious. It doesn't make me feel so bad knowing he we're both single. Now we can see who gets laid first."
"PERVERT."
I winked at her. "You know it."
"Of course, in your case it'll probably be a guy."
"Not necessarily." I pulled and eggroll from the carton on the table and took a bite out of it. "I'd fuck Quistis."
"She'd never fuck you though."
We carried on our conversation through the first part of the movie and by the time it was finished we agreed to watch it again because if the ending was that good the beginning and middle parts couldn't be all that bad either.
The movie kind of reminded me of the relationship Squall and I used to have. I was the emperor and he was Maximus, the gladiator. I didn't really like categorizing myself as the bad guy, and the whole thing about him having this strange infatuation with his sister completely kinda freaked me out, but the main elements were there. Heck, they even ended up killing each other at the end. That's what probably WOULD have happened to me and Squall had we been allowed to continue our little rivalry.
And it almost scared me.
Squall arrived just as Maximus had to fight the other general guy with all the tigers in the stadium with him.
The puppy went ballistic.
It was late, after ten.
He looked like hell.
"There's some Lo Mein in the fridge for you." Fujin offered, looking over the back of the couch as he wandered into the kitchen. He nodded to her.
He took it to his room.
The mutt went with him.
After Fu left he came back out, tossing a blanket, a pillow and some sheets onto the floor. "The AC tends to crank itself up in the middle of the night when it gets this hot out." He pointed to the fridge. "If you're hungry help yourself, there's still leftovers. Drink whatever you want but don't overdo it on the alcohol. There's a towel and washcloth for you in the spare bathroom if you want to take a shower and all your stuff is over there."
"Thanks." I replied. He started to turn back into his room. "Hey Squall?" He paused, looking over his shoulder at me, waiting. "Uh....." My voice suddenly caught in my throat. "....nevermind."
Then the door shut.
"Good night." I muttered.
I fell back on the couch and sighed, not knowing exactly what I was going to say to him and getting an odd feeling deep in my gut...
Squall
Seifer woke up the next morning as I started heating water in the coffee maker. He peered sleepily over the side of the couch and yawned, watching me busy in the kitchen, getting ready to go back out. I had to admit, he looked kind of adorable with his hair tossed all around like that. He reminded me of when he was little....which in turn reminded me of other things....
"Where are you going today?" he asked me, sitting up.
"Meeting Fujin and Quistis for breakfast. You can come if you want." I replied. "I'll give you a ride."
He looked surprised by the offer but complied. He grabbed some clean clothes and headed for the spare bathroom.
I heard the door shut and sighed. I wasn't very comfortable having him around and I think he knew that. I wasn't making it blatantly obvious or anything, and it wasn't just because it was him, although that was a huge part of it. Just having another person in the house complicated things. That fact that it WAS Seifer didn't help. He brought back too many bad memories. Not that it was his fault. Fujin was right. He HAD changed. I could tell that just by looking at him. When you know him as long as I have you'll understand. And I was willing to give him a second chance, I just wasn't ready yet...In fact, I think this was the worst possible time for him to show up out of the blue.
That wasn't his fault either.
I heard the shower start and hopped up on the counter, taking a sip of my hot chocolate (I don't like coffee all that much) and looked out the window.
I was tired. I hadn't been getting much sleep lately....
I turned on the news and sat on the couch as I waited for Seifer to get out of the bathroom.
A storm was coming in from the north, a bad one, forecasted to hit sometime late in the week.
I flipped the channel.
Infomercial.
Court tv.
Sitcom reruns.
Kiddy show.
Scooby Doo.
Shaggy frightens me....
I flip again.
Ah, here we go.
Iron Chef.
God bless PBS.
Seifer came back out, fully clothed, drying his hair with a towel. He joined Squall on the couch and stared at the television. "Iron Chef....I love this show."
Squall nodded and took a sip from his coffee.
Seifer looked at him. "Can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
"Why aren't you a SeeD anymore? Did you just wanna be around with your dad?"
"I got shot."
Seifer blinked. "When?"
"A few years ago. The riots at the memorial with the Magi? You remember those? All the sorceress supporters trying to preserve the place? Well, we were sent there to keep the peace. Didn't last very long." He lifted up his pantleg, showing the scar on his knee. "Two bullets directly in the knee. Shattered it completely. It still hurts sometimes. Anyway, they figured that the stress and energy it took being a SeeD might set it off and it could be permanently damaged to the point where I'd never be able to walk again."
"That sucks....." Seifer chirped. "So why happened with you and Rinoa?"
Squall suddenly winced. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Oh come on. Humor me, I've been out of action for a while." Seifer pouted. "So why did she break up with you."
"She didn't break up with me. I broke up with her."
"Why?"
Squall sighed, looking at him, then at his mug. "I couldn't give her what she wanted." He replied softly.
"What? Sex?" Seifer could tell by Squall's expression that it was part of the reason. "What, you mean you couldn't get it up?" Seifer smirked, punching him in the arm lightly. "I thought you weren't supposed to get that problem until you got older."
"It wasn't that." Squall tossed him a look.
"Was it the leg wound?"
Squall shook his head.
"Then what was it?" Seifer tilted his head at him. "Do you like guys or something."
"No." Squall replied quickly. The blonde only heard the words and saw them as a reverse answer, he couldn't see the look or pain behind them.
Seifer grinned teasingly. "Oh, so you couldn't get off because she didn't have a penis? Man, how long have you swung like that." He followed Squall as he walked back into the kitchen.
"I don't. It's nothing like that." Squall's voice was angry.
"Oh come on Squally." Seifer taunted playfully. "You can tell me. How long have you wanted to know what it's like to have a guy's hands on you? They know what you want. The way you like it."
"Shut up." Squall had a white knuckled grip on the counter.
"And there's nothing like feeling a guy inside you." Seifer's body shuddered, purely voluntarily, just wanting to get Leonhart uncomfortable, a little queasy maybe. He layed the act on thick. "Or bein' in one. Nice and tight. I bet you'd like the receiving end better."
Seifer was knocked back against the wall, holding his chin. Squall's hand was still clenched in front of him in a fist. "I said SHUT UP!"
Seifer's eyes blazed, anger boiling. Forgetting about Fujin as he felt blood pouring down his lip he leapt at the other young man, dragging him to the ground. "God, what the hell is your fucking problem?! I was only kidding!"
Squall kicked him off him and rolled back, standing.
Both of them stared at each other, panting.
"Squall turned and walked toward his room. "Call Fujin, tell her to pick you up. I'm not going."
Seifer blinked, suddenly feeling extremely stupid. Surprised because he could have sworn there were tears in Squall's eyes when he'd turned.
"What did you do?!" Fujin demanded as soon as Seifer got into the car. The call was so sudden and the bruise on Seifer's chin clearly meant something had gone horribly wrong.
"Nothing." Seifer shrugged. "We were just talking then he went ballistic on me."
"Squall doesn't just go ballistic for no reason." Quistis told him. "What were you two talking about?"
"Well, we started with him and Rinoa, that wasn't the bad part, I didn't tease him or anything. Then we started taling about him doin' guys. I was only kidding." Seifer shrugged. "I didn't know it would set him off like that. If I had I wouldn't have said anything."
Fujin shrugged. "Maybe he misses Rinoa or something."
Quistis looked down. "I don't think so......hey, just go easy on the guy will you? He's doing a lot for you right now."
"Eh, I'll apologize to him later." Seifer sighed. "You want my honest opinion? He needs a good fuck up the ass."
Quistis looked out the window and sighed. You don't know the half of it.
Squall sat at his desk and sighed. The day was taking to long to end, it should have been over hours ago. He just wanted to go home, take as shower...sleep....
Sleep....
"Hey." Laguna waved a hand in front of his son's face. His own was concerned as Squall rubbed his forehead. "You look like shit."
"The past few days have been incredibly long for me...." Squall sighed.
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off." the president patted the young man's arm. "When was the last time you took some time off."
"Never."
"Well, maybe it's time that you did." The long haired man sat down on top of the desk. "Come on, you have some paid vacation time. Go on a trip somewhere. Bring a girl."
Squall smirked his head. "WHAT girl?"
"I dunno. Fujin, Quistis? You pick one. You got a lot of good looking lady friends there kid."
"Thanks Dad. I'll think about it."
He watched as his father walked away.
He felt a pang of desire to call him back, tell him everything.... All those things were too far away now. He couldn't bear to hurt his father, he knew that telling him would break his heart.
So he remained silent.
Seifer awoke (from a strange dream of dancing chocobos and a blonde Fujin trying to sell him banana) to the sound of thunder and whimpering three days after his little battle with Squall. They'd both apologized to one another, but still hadn't talked much. Their conversations always seemed to lead to them feeling more uncomfortable with each other anyway. The apartment was dark as he opened his eyes.
Whimper.
Scratch.
Whimper.
Rumble.
Whimper.
Scratch.
Moan.
Seifer sat up, looking at Squall's bedroom door.
The puppy sat there, whimpering and clawing at the door.
Moan.
Seifer flushed.
Is he jerking off in there?
He glances warily around the room for something to cover his ears with.
Rumble.
The dog looked back, seeing Seifer looking toward the door and gave a light bark, clawing at the door again.
"Uhnnnnn......NO!" The shout was loud, full of fear.
Seifer was on his feet, sprinting to the door, his bare feet barely touching the floor. "Squall?!" He pounded on the wood. "Squall, open the door!"
The puppy barked and scratched harder.
"NO!!!" The frantic scream of terror rang in the blonde's ears.
Seifer rammed into the door with full force. He felt it budge a little and moved back to try again.
I swear if anyone's in there hurting him I'll rip them apart!!
He was surprised by his own threat, surprised that he was suddenly so terrified of anything happening to the young man.
The door burst open at the second blow and Seifer fell to the bedroom floor. The puppy sprinted to the bed and whimpered trying to climb up.
Seifer picked himself up, ready to fight.
His eyes widened.
Squall lay writhing frantically on the bed in a cold sweat, tangled in the blankets. His eyes rolled wildly under their lids.
"NOOO!!!!" he half screamed, half sobbed. His hands clutched the sheets in a white knuckled grip.
Tears were streaming down his face.
"Squall." Seifer ran to the bed, shaking the young man as hard as he could.
"NO!!!!!!" the shrill, terrified voice answered back.
Seifer shook him again. "Squall, wake up!"
Gray eyes flew open, seeing only the dark figure poised above him. "Get away!!!!" he cried, pushing himself wildly against the headboard, eyes impossibly wide.
"Squall, it's me." Seifer's hands gripped his shoulders and the eyes focused, the effects of the dream wearing off.
Squall closed his eyes, his body shaking as he tried to regain control of his own body. He let out a single sob and his shoulders hunched, his head bowing, more tears fell.
"Hey...." Seifer sat down on the edge of the bed, watching him, overcome with the sudden urge to protect the young man who was trying to control himself. He brought a hand up and brushed Seifer's off his shoulders.
"I'm okay now."
Seifer blinked. What the hell was that? And why do I think I've seen him like this before.
A flash of a little Squall in a crying Matron's arms, his back bleeding, other places bleeding. He just lay there, eyes blank, shaking....
Another flash.
Squall played happily on the floor with a pile of Legos. It was storming outside. Matron and Cid were gone. The other children were in bed. All but Seifer who'd started to come down the stairs when he heard the door open and stopped. Ducking down. If Matron came home and he wasn't in bed he'd be in deep doo doo. But he didn't want to see Squall get in trouble too.
A man came through the door. Not Cid, but the one who always came with those funny sparkly things... GF's. He was always talking to Matron about Garden and SeeDs. Why was he here now? It was past everyone's bedtime.
He walked into the main room where Squall was playing.
Squall looked up at him. "Hi."
The man grinned. "Where are Mr. and Mrs. Kramer, little one?"
"Der not here." Squall replied, looking back down at his Lego tower. The man stepped over it and looked down at him, looking him over.
"You're a pretty little thing, you know that?"
Squall just blinked.
The man gave him a feral smile. "Come on, I'll teach you a new game."
Squall looked down at his Legos and started to play again. He didn't like this man. He was funny looking and smelled bad. He didn't want to learn a new game, he liked his Legos. He never got to play with all of them because Irvine always hogged all the blue ones.
"Come on, let's go play."
"I don' wanna." Squall replied.
The man didn't like that answer. He pulled Squall up roughly and shook dragged him into the next room, past the dark stairwell.
"No!!!!" the little boy cried as the man flung him over the edge of the wooden table and pulled a small knife from his pocket.
The man cut as his clothes, tearing them off the rest of the way.
"No!!" Squall kicked as hard as he could one foot connecting heavily with the man's groin.
"Ah! You little SLUT!" he swung the knife down. The small child screamed in pain as blood poured down his back and onto the floor. Four times the blade sliced across his frail skin. "Now, you'll stay still and shut up or I'll keep cutting you."
The was one last little scream as the man buried himself within the tiny body under him. A hand flew across the small face, slamming it against the wooden table.
Squall was too terrified to move. His body shook and tears streamed down his face as the man moved. He could feel himself bleeding again where the man was hurting him. The man was making sounds, his breathing was foul and rancid against the tiny face.
"I would have settled for that little blond one. In fact, I came here for him. But you're just as good." A large, callused hand rubbed up against the tiny penis kneading it lightly. "You'll like this someday. You'll see." The man groaned, moving faster. "Ah, nice and tight...."
There was another blast of pain and the man tensed, moaning loudly.... Then he was pulled out, letting the little boy slide onto the floor, curling up into a ball. Blood seeped onto the ground from his face, back and rear.
The man rearranged his clothes and pulled the small face up by the hair, planting a rough kiss on the tiny mouth. The little boy just stared blankly at nothing.
"You know," the man smirked. "I always preferred brunettes anyway."
Then he was gone, leaving the door open, the rain blowing in.
A little boy stared on from the stairs, watching silently as his best friend sat in the middle of the floor, bleeding.
Seifer
Squall refused to look at me as he straightened himself, trying to make it look like he was alright. My eyes widened, finally recognizing him for who he really was.
My best friend.
I remembered why things had changed so much. After the incident he didn't want to be touched, he'd closed up, he lashed out an anyone who tried to get in. He didn't want to be around anyone, he was always alone.
And I'd been too young to understand why. I couldn't understand why I was suddenly alone, even though I never remembered NOT being alone. I didn't understand why there was always a strange void, one I thought my dream of being a sorceress knight would fill, but never could.
But I understood now.
And late is better than never.
He tensed up in my arms as I hugged him, rocking him back and forth. It took a few minutes but he relaxed and the shaking subsided. He said nothing, I think he knew I knew. And I think he accepted it, because he put his arms around my waist and quietly cried.
It was the most horrible thing I'd ever experienced, Squall crying. It was one of those things that would only happen in the world were ending. One of those horribly unnatural things. But I let him.
I realized then that he must have been waiting for me all this time...waiting for me to stop being the sorceress knight and start being his friend again. That was part of the reason why he cried.
He was hanging onto me like I was the only thing in the world at that moment.
And I didn't complain, because I was doing the exact same thing to him.
When I felt him calm and go still against me I lay him down, pulling the covers around him.
I sprawled out next to him on top of the blanket and just watched him, running my hand up and down his back. His eyes stayed open for a few moments, not really looking at anything, almost as if he was afraid to look at me. Like he was afraid I'd use my new memories against him. Or that I would think less of him because of them.
So I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him and waited for him to fall asleep.
He did, after what seemed like an eternity of silence.
And I followed.
When I woke up he was still there, only I was under the blanket too and the puppy was lying above my head. The bed was nice and warm and smelled like the body beside me.
My best friend.
It was distinctly a Squall smell, like shampoo and leather. I guess that's why I liked it so much.
The clouds outside parted a little and a ray of sun fell over the bed, hitting both of us square in the face.
His face contorted uncomfortably as it tried to continue his sleep. I smirked and put my hand in the way of the light, casting a shadow over his eyes. I knew I couldn't keep my hand like that for long but his face relaxed and he smiled a little.
And he still woke up. "Seifer, what are you doing?" he yawned, looking at my hand.
"You were doing that "Sun. Bad." thing in your sleep again."
He blinked sleepily at me. "Again?"
"Yeah, you used to do it all the time when you were little. Matron thought it was the cutest thing in the world." I rested my head against his. "I'm sorry....."
"For what?" he asked, yawning again.
"I'm sorry for I forgot..."
"Oh..." He looked nervous. "You remember.....everything?"
I nodded.
"That's okay....I only remembered a few years ago...." he looked at me.
"So, do you still wanna kick my ass?"
I smirked and shook my head.
He got comfortable again, resting his head on my arm. "Good."
"Hey, Squall?" I asked quietly, trying to get his attention but wanting him to stay half awake so he could at least fall asleep again. "Does this mean we're friends again?"
He let out a small, tired sigh and replied softly, on the edge of sleep. "I hope so..."
Then he was out again.
I got up as carefully as I could, pulling my arm from under his head and resting it carefully on the pillow. Quietly I walked into the livingroom and folded up my blanket and sheets, setting them in the corner.
I was hungry. I always get hungry when I'm in a good mood.
I called in a sick day at work for both of us. Kiros complied completely saying it was the first day Squall ever took to himself since he started.
After I hung up I started to raid the refrigerator.
Empty.
I sighed, seeing the keys to his car on the counter.
I changed my clothes, left him a note as to where I was going with his car and said when I'd be back.
Then I was gone, leaving the dog in charge.
Squall
When I woke up I was still tired and almost fell back asleep. I noticed my door was open and that Rufus wasn't around. I remembered last night, wondering where Seifer had gone until I saw the note posted next to my bed.
Went to store
Be back in an hour.
Took your car.
Crash and Burn >D ...jk...
9:30 am
p.s. Called you in sick.
I flopped back down on the bed and prepared to go back to sleep.
Until I smelled bacon....
And eggs...
And hashbrowns....
I sat up, sniffed and stood.
I trudged out, my nose leading the way. The radio was on.....Was that Seifer singing with ZZ Top?
Don't get me wrong, La Grange is a great song, but not the way Seifer was singing it.
At least he was knew all the words correctly.
All his notes were off though.
When he saw me standing nearby he smirked. "Thought that'd get you up."
"You're like a bad radio alarm clock." I nodded and walked toward him, looking over his shoulder. "Whatcha makin'?"
"Breakfast." he replied, looking back at me. "You still like scrambled eggs?"
"Preferred twenty to one." I replied.
"Want to help?"
"Want food poisoning?"
He smirked. "I'm sure you're not THAT bad."
I raised an eyebrow. "I burn SOUP."
This time, he laughed.
I can tell you right now I instantly felt better having him around now knowing he was my friend. Knowing I had my friend back. You don't realize how much you miss someone until they make you breakfast.
I really HAD missed him. More than I'd admit. I figured he already knew seeing as how I'd burst into tears last night.
And someone knew....
That felt pretty good too. Especially when he decided to stay with me.
I saw him looking at me and I tilted my head. "What?"
"You know? I don't know how I could have mistaken you for anyone else...you look a little different, but your hair's pretty much the same...Why'd you cut the bangs and the back shorter?"
"Looked kinda shaggy the other way. And it's not THAT much shorter. They only took about an inch off." I shrugged. "What? You don't like it? I WAS tempted just to shave it all short."
"Oh, don't EVER do that." He shook his head. "ACTUALLY, I kinda like it better like this. It looks neater. At least the angle for your bangs isn't as choppy as it was."
I laughed. Seifer Almasy was giving me fashion advice.
Now he was shoving a forkful of hashbrowns in my face. "Try this."
I think he liked watching me eat off the fork he held.
Fujin gaped at them as they fought over the last dumpling in the buffet express line. Seifer was armed with a chopstick while Squall fended him off with the serving spatula. Quistis and Zell just looked at one another. It had been a few days since the nightmare, the group hadn't gotten together in between that short time but there was already something drastically different.
"I'll stab you." Seifer threatened as they walked back to the table, holding the chopstick a few inches above Squall's hand.
Squall sat down, the others following, and bit half of the dumpling, handing Seifer the rest. "There, now shut up." Seifer popped it happily in his mouth. Squall started to work on his plate when he noticed the others giving them blank stares. "Uh..Seifer? They're looking at us funny....."
Seifer stopped in mid chew and glared across the table. "What?"
"What's wrong with you guys?" Zell blinked rapidly.
"We remembered that we were best friends." Seifer shrugged. He hovered over Squall's plate, pointing his chopstick at the teriyaki chicken. "You gonna eat that."
"Yes!" Squall laughed, slapping his hand. "Now work on your OWN damn plate."
"Fujin, see if they have a temp." Quistis ordered. "This is too weird."
"Oh, well, as long as they're getting along...." Fujin started to smile.
"Did you know he can cook?" Squall gestured to the blonde with his chopstick. "He made me breakfast."
The table turned to Seifer.
"What?" He asked, half a Lo Mein noodle sticking from his mouth. "He's letting me stay at his house for free."
"Not free mister." Squall assured him. "You're teaching me how to cook."
"Yes PLEASE!!!!" Zell cried. "Last time he cooked I got the runs for a week! And he made HOTDOGS!!"
Seifer grinned, nudging Squall. "Man, you MUST suck."
"I told you I was bad." The brunet shrugged.
"So, Zell, what happened to your tattoo?" The blonde asked.
"You know, it's a funny story." Squall was already laughing. "It's better when he tells it though."
Zell rolled his eyes and sighed. "I never had a real tattoo. It was a temporary but it looked cool so I kept going over it with permanent marker...."
Seifer snickered. "I knew you didn't have the balls to get a real one. You're a big pain pansy."
"Yeah, I did the same to another one too." Zell laughed. "I said I got one on my arm a couple years back. I markered "HotDogLovers" on my arm. I WAS gonna get it done but I chickened out..."
"Yeah, which sucks because I lived up to MY part of the bargain...." Squall huffed.
"And what bargain was that?" Seifer eyed him.
"If he got a tattoo I'd get a piercing."
"But you already HAD an earing."
Squall smirked. "The deal was no ear piercings."
Seifer was intrigued. "So, where'd you get it done?"
Squall looked around before lifting his shirt up partway.
Seifer stared at the naval ring there. "Holy shit!"
"Shhhh!" The entire table answered.
Squall pulled his shirt back down. "ANYway, he still owes me a tattoo."
"Very few men can pull a naval ring off and not have it look trashy. Feel proud of yourself." Seifer told him.
"I think it's hot." Quistis winked at the brunet.
He winked back. "Tell him where yours is."
She threw a napkin at him.
"Trepe got one too?!" Seifer was grinning.
She stuck her tongue out at him. He saw the hole in the center and shook his head. "Man, you guys are nuts. I can handle tattoos but no piercings."
Fujin eyed him. "When did YOU get tattoos? As in plural? Not just the one?"
"I got a fire cross on my shoulder."
"So Fujin." Squall arched his eyebrows. "What about you."
"I have an eyepatch." she replied. "And a tattoo, that's all you need to know."
Seifer blinked. "Since when?"
"Since before I met you." she shrugged. "It's in a discreet place."
The whole table "Ah" ed.
"Dad! GHAAAAAA!!!!" Squall cried as the super soaker hit him full blast in the back. "Hello! I'm on your team!"
Kiros laughed as he watched Laguna pummel his son with water and jogged around the perimeter of the courtyard looking for more targets. Selphie, Quistis, Zell, Irvine and Michael.
"All's fair in love and war!" Laguna shouted.
Squall shook the water from his sopping hair and eyed the older man. "Come on already...."
"Okay, okay son..." Laguna gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. "Let's go get them."
"Hey, Fu! Are you sure you don't wanna play?" Squall called up to the balcony where Fujin stood, watching them. Hilde and a few other employees watched as well.
"No, that's okay. I have work to do."
"Come on Fujin, you're on my payroll! Have some fun. We only get to do stuff like this once a week." Laguna shouted. "Kiros! I'm coming to GEEEET you!"
"I'm on your team too..."
"Yeah, but you're wearing white!" The president purred. "Rawr!"
"Michael! Did you get anyone?" Squall called, running through the lightly wooded area of the courtyard. It had taken him a moment not to yell "Seifer". He'd just have to get used to that. He felt a spray of cold water hit him in the chest.
"Yeah, you." Seifer smirked.
"Does anyone here get the definition of TEAM." Squall looked down at his sopping wet clothes.
"Wet looks good on you." Seifer winked then continued in a British accent. "Come, let us hunt the Selphie creature!"
A tree eeped and Selphie darted from behind it, heading for more cover.
Fujin laughed from her birds eye view.
Through the window above her a pair of eyes watched.
Seifer woke up early one morning for no apparent reason and checked on Squall, making sure he'd slept alright.
His hair was tousled from constant repositioning. His face remained calm, relaxed, a few bangs falling ruthlessly over one delicate closed eye. One arm rested on his stomach the other flailed out to the side, fingers curling lightly.
He really was beautiful when he slept.
People say you look younger when you sleep.
He smirked.
Squall just looked like Squall.
Asleep.
Seifer shook his head. Now don't go falling in love with the guy. He needs a friend right now. And you've been without a date for too long. You'll just end up hurting him.
Maybe it's time I started looking for a new place to live...
He stood and walked in to the kitchen, preparing to make some breakfast.