Little Black Book
Chapter Two
Little Black Book
Chapter Two
"Squall!" Now, at a wedding reception, the guests of honor were supposed to be, well, the wedding party, right? Squall scowled darkly as his name was screeched across the ballroom for the zillionth time and Laguna Loire raced over to greet him. "Oh, it is so great to see you! What are you doing
here?""Jacking off," Squall replied dryly. Laguna's eyebrows shot up and he looked down at Squall's crotch with wide eyes, a blush creeping over his cheeks.
"Oh, you're joking." Laguna's voice dropped and he frowned at Squall, who was considering asking if he was really all that disappointed Squall wasn't doing the aforementioned action. "Can't we just drop this act of war stuff? I mean…we're both adults and…"
"It's not that. I just don't like you." With his face calm and blank as Laguna's fell and contorted, Squall looked the older man in the eye. "Stop trying to make up for the past. I don't want a father and I don't need one." Raising an eyebrow, Squall stalked across the room to the bar. If he was going to survive being mauled by all those fucking people tonight, he was going to have to be very, very drunk.
"What was that all about?" a rich baritone asked. Squall ordered a whiskey sour then glanced up at Seifer, downing the liquor in two large
swallows."What was what all about?" he asked.
"The deal with you and President Loire," the blonde clarified and requested a beer from the bar. "You looked like you crushed his soul. Whassamtter Leonhart? Old flame."
"That's disgusting. He's my father." Squall had a brilliant rush of pleasure over the pure shock on Seifer's face as he choked on his beer.
"What?!" the blonde wheezed.
"Laguna. He's my father. He keeps wanting to spend some 'quality time' with me. Trying to make up for abandoning me, or some bullshit like that. Trying to apologize for my life at, well, Garden I guess."
"What are you talking about? You're a fucking hero, Leonhart. Why would he apologize for that?"
"Because," Squall smirked. "I'm a bad man. Nobody likes how I turned out - a cold, emotionless, arrogant, bastard - Hyne, I don't even like how I turned out." He paused long enough to flag down the bartender and gesture towards his empty glass.
"And why don't you change if you hate yourself so much?" Seifer asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I never said I hated myself," Squall smiled. "Besides, I'm strong, powerful, rich, and independent. I love my life." Seifer nodded and peered into his beer bottle, letting the conversation drop a little.
"Why didn't you bring your girlfriend?" he asked suddenly. Squall thanked the waiter for his drink and sipped at it, his expression dark.
"Don't have one."
"Oh. Your, uh, boyfriend then."
"Why do you always assume I'm gay?" Squall exploded.
"Maybe because of how you react when a pretty woman touches you." Raised eyebrows and a 'Huh?' silence were Squall's reaction. "When Quisty hugged you earlier - you looked…uncomfortable," the blonde clarified.
"I don't like being touched. By anyone. Ever."
"You must get very lonely."
Squall shrugged. "It doesn't bother me; there aren't a lot of people I like anyway."
"SQUALL!" a loud, high-pitched voice and tiny, bouncing figure launched itself across the room and onto Squall.
"Selphie," the brunette man gasped. He tried to wriggle out of her grasp, however the task seemed damned near impossible. "What are you doing?"
"Hugging you," she replied simply.
"Okay. You've hugged me - now let me go."
"Ummm…no."
"What?!" Seifer raised an amused eyebrow as Squall struggled to remain calm. "Selphie - get off of me."
"Not until you hug me back."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Squall saw an elegant black dress and long dark hair. He turned to see Matron giggling at him. "Did Matron put you up to this?"
"Just hug me, Squall." Selphie looked up at him with big, brown eyes. "It helps keep you happy."
"…Whatever."
"Please?" There are, Squall discovered, few things in the world harder to resist than Selphie Tilmitt when she turns her puppy-dog eyes on you and pouts. Sighing loudly, Squall leaned in and wrapped his arms around the petite brunette, leaning into her embrace and pressing his cheek to her hair."Happy?" he whispered.
"Very." She pulled away and beamed at him. "And no, Matron didn't put me up to it. Pay up, Almasy." Squall blinked as she turned her attention to the tall blonde who was smirking at him.
"Okay. 5 gil as promised."
"10. It was 10 gil. You said you bet 10 gil that I can't get him to hug me. I did." Selphie stuck out her little pink tongue at Seifer and grinned."You guys bet on me?" Squall asked incredulously.
"Yeah. And I'm glad I only went with 10 gil instead of a whole month's salary," Seifer teased. "Apparently, I don't know you as well as I used to."
"You never knew me," Squall hissed. "None of you did. And you're delusional if you think otherwise. You might have known how to push my buttons, Seifer, but that's a long way from knowing someone." He knocked back the rest of his drink and strolled away.
"Hyne, when did you become so much of a pussy, Leonhart?" Seifer asked, raising his voice against the music of the reception.
"If I'm not mistaken, hiding behind an evil slut's skirts would drop you several notches below being a pussy, Almasy," Squall yelled back. "Something closer to a spineless coward."
"Oh wow - where did you learn to expand your vocabulary, Pussyhart? Hooked on faggots?"
"…Whatever." Just turn around and keep walking, Leonhart, Squall's mind told him and he listened.
"That's right. Run away," Seifer taunted.
"Knock it off, Seifer," Selphie whispered. He ignored her and moved across the room so he was behind Squall.
"Run back to your little haven away from Balamb-G where your BOYFRIEND is waiting, you fucking pussy." Now, all things considered, Seifer should have expected the fist that landed in his face, but for some reason, he didn't. Squall watched, with a raised eyebrow, as Seifer hit the floor.
"I didn't come here to fight with you, Seifer," he hissed. "I didn't want to come at all, but I thought…" Squall caught himself revealing more than he wanted. "It doesn't matter," he amended. "It's all still the same. You're still the same arrogant little boy who's scared of his own reflection. This isn't worth it. Grow up, Seifer. The world isn't a playground anymore…later."
From his position on the floor, Seifer watched as Squall walked away while blood dripped off his lip. Seifer's hand moved up and touched the blood and the glared at Squall's retreating form; the fucker split his lip.