Numb
Chapter 6
Numb
Chapter 6
Squall sat on the rock in the place where he saw ghost Seifer except it was lunch time so he wasn’t there but he had hoped to see him anyway. He knew it would happen soon, everything had been so calm so something had to happen. He thought of what his lover was doing now, having a friend with her cheating boyfriend, well okay beating up her boyfriend but that was still a good thing…. Sort of.
He slid to the floor and leant back against the rock, resting his head on it, the sun shone down on him making him feel warm and sleepy. He shut his eyes for just a minute but he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he saw couldn’t be real. It was Seifer not ghost Seifer, this was different he was shouting at someone and he couldn’t see Squall, it was like a vision. A play being acted out in front of him only the only person he could see was his lover. The images flickered a few times, little bits and pieces that he couldn’t pick out until one image came and stayed long enough for the brunette to see, again Seifer looked pissed and Hyperion was being waved in the air, not in a violent way more a teasing threatening way to warn and scare someone. But the expression on the blonde face changed suddenly and the blade fell from his grip to the ground. The image become just the gunblade, blooded and dirty. The image flickered again to a new background, it was Seifer’s dorm, his bed with a suitcase lying open with some clothes hanging out.
Was he going somewhere?
Where was he going?
The blonde’s eyes were focused on someone and his eyes were soft, whoever he was talking to, it showed that he cared for them.
The image flicked to a scene he knew with Seifer and his friends leaving for Balamb only this time the only person he could see was Seifer.
Squall jumped awake panting, glancing up at the sky to see it was still blue and the sun was still warm against him. The brunette stood up and stared at the town of Balamb feeling the dread as the image of Seifer leaving and bloody blade played in his mind. He wondered if he should go there and look for his lover, but would he really find him? Could he stop anything from happening?
He walked into the town, wandering around feeling lost.
“Squall?”
He frowned, wondering who he knew in Balamb and he turned to see Zell looking at him in concern. Of course he forgot that the blonde stayed with his mother sometimes.
“What are you doing here man?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re wandering around the street for nothing?”
“I- err- have you seen Seifer around here?”
Zell frowned and paused. “I heard you two were together, that true?”
Squall hesitated but then he thought everyone would know soon so why not tell Zell. “Yes it’s true.”
His friend grimaced. “Why? You can do so much better. I mean I know Rinoa may not have been all there in the brain department by Seifer-”
“Have you seen him or not?”
Zell looked a little taken back by Squall snapping at him. “Err- no sorry man.”
“What about Raijin or Fujin?”
“No, why are you so worked up about seeing them? I’m sure they’ll come back.”
“It’s very important that I see him, I’ll be wandering about a bit more so if you do see him tell me.” He left leaving Zell staring after him in confusion and worry.
Squall went down to the docks and sat there staring out to sea for a few minutes. He remembered ghost Seifer telling him he couldn’t change things, maybe he was right, maybe he couldn’t stop it, whatever Seifer did to deserve death and everything that came with it, the pain, the tears, the panic. Maybe though he could just be there for his lover sooth the pain and wipe some tears away, not that he had ever seen Seifer cry but ghost Seifer seemed more… not emotional but….he had been through it and it was visible, you could see it in his eyes. If he was good to the blonde maybe he could just change the way it all started.
An old man sat beside him on the wall and feed the sea gulls some bread, Squall watched the birds fight each other for the small amount of food, filling their beaks and flying away quickly. He pushed off the wall knowing it was useless he would never find Seifer to time.
The brunette headed back to garden past the spot where he saw those visions and straight into the elevator to get on with some reports and forget about Seifer for a moment. He had to share a lift with Rinoa, she grimaced as he got in.
“Rinoa.” He greeted but she didn’t reply. “Not going to speak to me?”
“Why should I? You never speak to me.” She gave him a look. “Just because you’re the commander doesn’t mean I have to be nice to you.”
The lift dinged and she got out at the second floor. Squall continues up to his office. The hours flew by after half a pile of reports he looked up at the clock. It was 6:00, was Seifer back yet? He wanted to go and check, he sorted the reports into a pile to finish later and took the lift down to the ground floor. He was pleased to spot Fujin sitting on the bench beside the directory. He frowned as he got closer, she was rubbing her arms continuously and her eyes didn’t focus on anything.
“Fuijn!”
She didn’t seem to hear him.
He walked right up close but she didn’t see him until he was sitting beside her and he touched her arm to get her attention. The girl flinched.
“Squall.” She whispered. He had never heard her whisper before.
“Are you okay? Where’s Seifer?”
“His dorm I think.” She looked back at her hands, curling them into fists to hide her palms. The brunette noted the blood on her top, it looked like a splatter.
“Are you hurt?” He reached out to touch the stain but she got up too fast and ran away.
The image of the bloody blade seemed to be on replay in his head and he knew it wasn’t her blood on her top. Squall reached the dorms and knocked on Seifer’s door, no answer. He hammered on the wood continuing until it opened under his hand and he stopped in shock at the haunted look on his lover’s face, his eyes looked really strange.
“Seifer?” His clothes were spotless but they weren’t the ones he had on earlier.
The blonde stepped back to let Squall into the room but he didn’t shut the door yet, Squall looked around and that’s when he saw it the grey trench coat on the floor all bundled up with other clothes inside it. He stepped toward it but Seifer stopped him.
“No, don’t touch that.”
“Seifer?”
“NO!”
The brunette raised a hand to his lover’s face. “Seifer?” He repeated.
For a moment the blonde didn’t push him away, he leant into the touch a little but then he slapped the hand away hard.
“But-”
“Go back to your girlfriend!”
Squall sighed helplessly as he was herded out of the dorm room and the door was slammed in his face. There was a thump from inside as the blonde slumped on the door and slid down to the floor.