Friday, March 27th

Zell scowled at the dusty windscreen and tried not to gnaw on the inside of his bottom lip. He'd been on this shitty mission for nigh on five days and the stupid, big, ugly, fast whatever-the-fuck-it-was was *still* running away from battle. He hated monsters that did that. But he hated even more the fact that Scan wouldn't work on the stupid, fucking thing. He knew next to nothing about it except it was quick and liked using Thunder magics- which was totally fine by him and Quez. It gave them back all the energy they'd used up chasing the damn thing in the first place. It was a funny looking thing, like a cross between a Mesmerize and a Grat... go figure, and Zell *hated* it. He wasn't usually the type to hate things but this damn monster was driving him insane.

"Zell? This is Garden... How's it going?"

Zell growled at the sound of Quistis' voice over the transmitter. Usually he would be really happy to hear her voice after five days of just him, Quez and desert critters but he was about to explode with frustration.

When he thought he was calm enough he snatched the receiver from its holder. "Yeah, Quistis," he replied, through clenched teeth. "I'm absolutely fuckin' *fine*."

There was silence for a moment then Squall's voice drifted across the airwaves. "What's wrong?"

Usually Zell would have one of two reactions to Squall's cool and very sexy voice. He'd either snap to attention and be a perfect lapdog, or he'd apologise and be meek... not today. "What the fuck do you think is *wrong*?! Same thin' that's been goin' on for days! This fucking monster is leadin' me around in fuckin' *circles*! Do you have any idea how irritatin' that is? I been sittin' out here for five days, just me, Quez and the desert and let me tell you Squall, even *she's* gettin' pissed off. If this thin' won't stay put and let us kick it's arse in the next day we're leavin'. Got it?"

Squall seemed to consider Zell's burst of anger for a minute. The martial artist could almost hear him drawing a deep breath and thinking. "Shall I send back up?"

"Back up?!!" Zell almost ripped the transmitter from the dashboard. Instead he violently slammed his foot on the brake and turned off the engine. "You listen to me very fuckin' closely, *Commander*--"

"Maybe you should calm down, Chicken."

Zell clenched his teeth tighter, and forced himself to very slowly replace the handset. He would not explode because Seifer was a fuckhead. He would be cool, calm and collected. He would--

"You fuckin', shithead piece of crap, Almasy!!! You wanna spend five fuckin' days in the boiling hot fuckin' sun chasin' around some Hyne forsaken creature who *runs* every damn time you get anywhere *near* it?! You wanna come out here so I can beat your fuckin' head to a disgustin' pulp of arrogance huh?! Do you?!!"

Zell could practically *hear* the smirk. "No, not really." The gunblader paused and when he spoke again it obviously wasn't to Zell. "Shall I get back to work and let you sedate the little Chicken?"

"I'm gunna kill you, Almasy!!!" Zell shouted.

"You know," Seifer continued, his voice getting fainter as he stepped away from the transmitter. "He's probably attracting lots of monsters with all that shouting."

"Or scaring them away," Quistis muttered.

"Screw you all!" Zell snapped and flipped off the radio. One glance out his window though reminded him that however arrogant and just plain damn *annoying* Seifer was he also knew a lot about fighting stuff. The creature was hovering in it's weird, floating blobby pony kind of way a few meters in front of the truck. "I'm gunna *kill* you," Zell repeated quietly.

In his head Quez drew back cautiously. Not because of the monster but because she had seen Zell's anger before and knew just how violent and explosive it was. This monster was going to get seriously deaded.

Seifer smiled happily. Even though he was stuck in the basement going through Rinoa's illegible notes about 'Sorceress War I: The Beginning of Stuff', as she called it, at least he wasn't out in the desert. He almost caught himself chuckling at the thought of a supremely irritated Chicken stomping his foot in the sand and falling flat on his arse. Granted though irritation could lead to awesome sex, he smiled, with luck Zell would be cranky when he got back to Garden too.

He stacked the last of Rinoa's 'Phase One: The Red Woman With The Stupid Hair' notes in his 'So Don't Want To Read These' pile and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk. He was just deciding whether he'd rather a cup of coffee or a daydream involving one naked Chickie when Selphie burst in.

"I got *more* stuff for Rin!!"

Seifer's hands went instinctively to his ears. "Dammit, Selphie, keep your Hyne damn voice down."

The little ninja grinned at him. "Hung over?"

"No, I'm Seifer remember? I've never liked the sound of your voice."

"Oh yeah," Selphie pouted. "You used to try and gag me when we were little."

Seifer grinned happily at the memory. He'd especially liked the time when no one had found her gagged and tied to a tree until supper. "Mmm," he mused. "It was fun, wasn't it? Especially when no one knew where you were..."

"No," Selphie chucked the folder in her hand at him and folded her arms. "I got eaten *alive* by mossies."

"You were scratching those bites for days!" Seifer laughed aloud at the memory. "Ahh, good times."

"Wow," Selphie said. "You really are an arsehole."

When she'd left him alone (i.e. five seconds later) Seifer plucked the folder she'd chucked at him up off the floor and opened it. He realised quickly that he shouldn't have. This folder was not for him; it was for Rinoa. And all it contained was photographs, artist's impressions and security camera images of Her, Adel and Edea. One look into Her eyes as either of the three women and he was kneeling on the concrete floor dry retching into his wastepaper basket.

When his stomach had calmed itself, he flipped the folder shut without looking and quickly threw it across to Rinoa's desk. Unfortunately, proving his ill luck, it landed open. Open to a photograph of Edea. For some reason this one didn't scare Seifer so much. He didn't realise why until he took a closer look at Edea's outfit and location. She was standing by the orphanage, except it wasn't ruined. It was perfect, just how he remembered it. This wasn't a Sorceress it was his Matron. It was the photograph he had left under his bed in a faded box of memories before he'd gone to help Rinoa and the Forest Owls in Timber. He'd known they cleared out his room after it became clear he was working for Her but he hadn't realised they would go through and *keep* some of his things.

The gunblader stood up and reached for the photograph. He didn't want to see any of the others. He just wanted this one. The one that was of his mother. The orphanage looked so alive behind her. He wondered for a moment if it looked like that now that Cid and Edea were rebuilding. Quistis had gone to see it a couple of weekends ago, she would know. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to ask. The same way he couldn't bring himself to question where all Edea's children were when the photograph had been taken. Were they at the beach? In the house? Had they already gone to Garden or been adopted? Where was he? Where was her Knight?

He was shocked from his reverie when Rinoa bounded noisily into the room. She noticed the folder surprisingly quickly and was about to take the photograph from Seifer's hands but he lifted it out of her range. "It's mine," he said quietly.

"Yours?" Rinoa flipped the folder shut and sat down at her desk. "How?"

"It was in my room before... before the War," he curled the photograph in the palm of his hand before slipping it into a trench coat pocket.

"Why would you have a photograph of her if you didn't remember her?" Rinoa asked curiously.

"Same reason I had the box," Seifer brushed a hand through his hair and tried to compose himself. "I knew they were important I just couldn't remember why."

"Didn't you recognise her then?" Rinoa continued.

Seifer paused and looked at her. Was she interrogating him? "No, I hadn't looked at them in a while."

The Sorceress nodded and seemed satisfied. That worried Seifer; whenever She had looked satisfied with him she was generally anything but. She would lull him into a false sense of security and then remind him of who he really was and who She had made him. He shivered despite the central heating, just thinking of Her made him... scared. And it frightened him that he was scared at all. But what irritated him most was not that She was his weakness but that She damn well *knew* it, and still exploited it... even though She was dead... She was *dead*, wasn't She?

Zell half crouched against the rocky, hot, jagged ground as the leafy pony circled around to attack him again. He snarled. This had to be the stupidest mission he'd ever been on. The monster itself was ridiculous, let alone sending a top level SeeD out to fight it. Whose bright idea had that been? All it really needed was any old First Level SeeD and a GF.

The little martial artist was just summoning Quez for what he hoped was the final attack when he felt his whole body go numb and almost totally paralyzed. 'What the fuck?' It took him all the effort he had to move his head, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the creature slinking in a zigzag kind of way toward him, flailing a leafy wing before casting some magic.

Zell flinched, and hoped to Hyne it was Thundaga, that would make he feel all electric and... ow! It was Pain magic. He shivered and moved to clutch his arms around him but he still couldn't move. He felt one leafy thing flick at his face and winced, it stung, the animal seemed to be toxic... Yay! All his worst missions had come at once. As blindness began to set in he felt Quez summoning herself. He hadn't even known they could do that.

In his half blind state, Zell saw the first flickers of Quez's Thunder Storm before it all went black. When he heard the final shivers of electricity crackling through the air he was suddenly slapped in the face by a sticky, wet, oozing substance that smelt worse than decomposing Malboros. But that was OK, so long as it was dead.

He cast Esuna on himself and tried scraping all the stuff out of his hair; eyes screwed shut so it wouldn't flow into them and probably blind him. It was oozing down his back and would get into his pants if he weren't careful. In a flash of inspiration Zell ran back to the truck and drove to the nearest beach. That was one of the awesome things about Centra, with all the little inlets and islets the beach was never that far away.

When he arrived the martial artist stripped off all his clothing and ran straight for the water. He dived gracefully to the bottom and clutched lazily at the sand that lay there. It felt great to be in the water again. He hadn't gone for a swim in the ocean in a long time. When he surfaced he shook the water from his hair and swam back toward the beach, kicking lazily. He thought maybe he should radio and apologise or something, just to let them know he'd killed the damn thing... or Quez had. She was so awesome. He thanked her again in his head and was rewarded for his thoughtfulness with a shiver of electricity over his skin. Mmm, that felt nice, especially in all that water.

But back at shore he realised he was now all clean but his clothes were not. Sure, chucking them in the salt water would make them all stiff and... salty but there was no way he was driving back to Honolee to return the truck in the nude. So he gathered up the pile and carried them to the shore. Once he arrived and was engaged in the mundane, mindless movement of scrubbing at the Grat/ Mesmerize guts on his shorts he considered how peculiar the world had grown since Her. Honolee was one of its additions. The first of four towns to spring up in Centra. He'd always thought the place was pretty uninhabitable but then the Orphanage was there, wasn't it? And Matron would have had to get their food from somewhere. Now though the little towns could import from Galbadian and Esthar, trade routes had re-opened soon after Her as each country tried to prove their willingness to co-operate with one another. That was how he managed to hire a car, everyone in Centra needed some sort of vehicle. How would you move about otherwise?

Zell dragged his heavy, wet clothes from the sea and lay them flat on a rock to dry. He did the same with his own body, nude sun-bathing had never been his thing but how else was he going to get dry? He rested there, back a bit scratchy because of the rough rock and wondered if Matron had known all her children would turn out to be killers. Did she know Cid would look after them when she was done or had she had different dreams for them all? Did she expect Quistis to be a teacher? Irvine a doctor? Selphie his nurse? Had she thought Seifer would go to university in Deling City and become a business man? Did she think his ruthlessness would go well for him on the stock market? Almost as much as a suit... Zell almost drooled at the thought. Seifer in a suit... like the SeeD uniform when they'd gone to Esthar... He grinned. It was a pity Seifer had refused to wear it to the graduating ceremony but then if he had half of Garden would be drooling over him and so far as Zell was concerned the older boy was his fucking property. At least in the bedroom.

He rolled to one side and petted his now warming clothes. They weren't completely dry but they would do, he wanted to leave Centra and he wanted to go home *now*. His shoes and socks would have to wait, they were soaking. It felt weird to have washed shoes but all that grat-pony slime had slid down his bare legs into them and it was just... gross.

The little martial artist hopped back across the burning sand to the car in bare feet, happy now the stupid thing was dead. His natural grinning expression shone through all the sleeplessness, rough treatment and aches his body really suffered from. When he had positioned himself in the car so that the hot seats weren't scorching any part of his bare skin he leant for the transmitter.

"Garden, this is Zell... Hellooo?"

Nida answered, he must have been bored he was so excited to hear from someone. "Zell! How's it going?"

"I got the fucking thing finally," he was grinning stupidly again. "Thought I should apologise for snappin' at Quisty and Squall." 'Not Seifer though. He's an idiot.' "Could you tell the guys I'm--You're fucking kidding me!"

Zell's violent change of subject was because, blobbing happily on the beach, was another grat-pony. It moved to the water and flicked a leafy limb in there, splashing itself then it seemed to squirm in contentment. Zell could feel himself getting mad again.

"I swear to fucking *Hyne* I killed that stupid piece of--"

"Umm, how about I get Quistis?"

"Yeah, you do that," Zell glared out his window at the thing and realised he'd dropped one of his sneakers. "Shit! Fucking dammit! Fucking... SHIT!"

"Zell?" Quistis sounded very wary. Obviously she had not forgotten last time they spoke. "Has something happened?"

"It's dead... at least, *one* of them is..." he growled into the phone and wondered if Seifer were around to hear it- the gunblader had always liked his frustrated noises... Bastard.

"One of them?" Quistis turned from the receiver for a minute. "Nida? Would you call Squall?"

Zell could only vaguely hear the other half of Quistis' conversation and that was annoying him too. Why the Hell couldn't Nida speak up? "Hey! Do you want me to kill this thing or what?"

"Leave it for a bit," Quistis replied.

"It's tossing one of my sneakers around the beach, Quistis! Come on!"

Squall's voice came on the line. "I'm going to send a SeeD Research Team to investigate, Zell. I suppose you can come back now."

"Thank fuckin' Hyne," Zell snapped.

"And don't do anything stupid, we don't know how many there actually are and--"

"Of course I won't do anythin' stupid. If it weren't for Quez the damn thin' woulda taken me out last time. I know I'm headstrong but I'm not dumb enough to take on another one *alone*. Fuck." He shook his head. Sometimes he swore these friends of his were complete strangers. They didn't know the first thing about him. "Bye."

"Zell?" Squall soft voice, now that he wasn't homicidal, calmed him a little. He was so used to obeying Squall's orders, he instinctively did as he was wanted.

"Yeah...?"

"Be careful."

"Yessir!" he grinned and hung up the transmitter. Sometimes Squall did actually care about things and sometimes he would even show it. Trouble was Zell could never be sure what he was caring about when he did so. Was he worried for Zell's safety? Or was he worried that without the martial artist they wouldn't have the information needed to kill the creatures and complete the contract with the newly formed Centrarian Council?

Oh well, he couldn't let that bother him. He was leaving, even if he did have to sacrifice a sneaker to do so. Smiling he turned onto a more heavily travelled road. "Home, home, home!"

Seifer frowned. She had somehow managed to get into his cupboard and rummage around until she found his best shirt. Then she'd trodden all over it and left some of her dirty little foot prints before curling up and sleeping there. Sometimes he hated cats, people said they were clean animals, and they were - compared to dogs. Hunter however, was not the cleanest of creatures. Nor, if the point had to be made, was he. But he'd grown to live with his own mess, could he live with hers?

Just as he was considering if the cat was too much hassle she woke up. She stretched her front paws out and wriggled her back legs. Opening one eye she yawned at him and trotted over to rub up against his trousers. Hunter was a surprisingly friendly cat. At least she was to him, she would often follow him around his quarters and wait for him when he was in the shower or in the bathroom, she even insisted on eating her dinner with him. And she really didn't like Rinoa.

The gunblader smiled, lifting the kitten into his arms and scratching under her chin. She might have hated Rinoa because of Angelo but he liked to think it was because Seifer hated her too. Hunter liked Zell though; the two of them would often play together. He shook his head, Zell appeared to be more of a dog person but Hunter and he loved each other's company. Often he would wake up in the morning (or afternoon, he never liked morning) and find her curled on Zell's lap as he read, or wandering around his ankles as he cooked breakfast.

Hunter batted her head against his chest and mewed pathetically. He sighed. 'Oh yeah, cat food.' That was one of the things he was supposed to do today. Maybe she could have milk... and chicken scraps or something. The gunblader opened the fridge. It was practically empty, luckily however, the freezer contained some fish. Hunter didn't seem too impressed she hopped out of his arms and landed on the bench.

"You shouldn't be up there, darlin'," he muttered.

She just mewed at him.

"Yeah, good point. Alright," the gunblader headed for his room again and grabbed his black trenchcoat. It was one of the newer additions to his wardrobe and made him stand out less as the Sorceress' Knight but it still made him feel comfortable. "I'll go get us something from town. You wait here." With a final pat Seifer left his little cat in the hope of stealing a Garden vehicle.

With dinner over, Hunter and Seifer sat in front of some atrocious prime time television, tummies full and digesting pizza and raw fish.

"Mew?" Hunter pawed at his leg.

"What?" Seifer frowned at the cat. She was always after something but he was never quite sure he knew what it was. "Hungry?" He got up and went back to the kitchen were some of her food still lay. "You've got food."

"Maow," Hunter clarified.

"You've got water too," Seifer shook his head. "Look, that's all I can give you so if you don't like it, bad luck." He grabbed his jacket again. "I'm going to see, Zell."

Hunter purred happily as she settled back onto the couch, she was glad Seifer was such an aestheticist. His couch was far more comfortable than Irvine and Selphie's had been. Even if he didn't understand when she wanted cheese.

When Seifer arrived it was almost 10.30, he hadn't expected the martial artist to be asleep but he was. Or at least he was in bed. That was OK though, the bedroom was exactly where Seifer had intended to take him anyway.

He slipped out of his coat, shoes and shirt and slid in beside him. Zell was lying on one side, breathing steadily and softly snoring. Seifer found himself smiling and wondered what he could do to this body to make him wake up happy. A thought flickered through his head and he smirked. Slipping one hand beneath the covers he ran tentative fingers across Zell's hipbone. The smirk broadened even more when he realised the martial artist was sleeping nude.

"Nnnh," Zell frowned and rolled onto his back.

Seifer's hand travelled further, venturing into the curls that surrounded the smaller boy's sex. He raked his fingers through the hair for a moment before pressing on.

"Seif..." Zell blinked one eye open and scowled. "Fuck off."

Not one to be dissuaded, Seifer pressed on, he pushed his nose into Zell's ear and took the lobe into his mouth, curling his tongue around it. The younger blond pulled away.

"I said piss off," Zell tugged away. "I been on a mission 'n' I'm fuckin' tired."

The gunblader propped himself up on one elbow. "I heard you were a little put out by the monster experience."

"You know, teasin' ain't helpin' your case. Now fuck off I was asleep." The tattooed boy snuggled deeper into the covers and turned his back to his partner, trying to ignore that hand that lay so close to his manhood.

"Well," Seifer curled one hand around Zell's ribs again. "You go to sleep, I'll take my pleasure."

"Oh fuck you!" Zell sat up and scowled down at the gunblader. "Look, I'm tired and fed up and I just wanna sleep OK? I'm not in the mood for your shit, 'no' means 'piss off' so get goin'." He threw himself back into bed and furiously straightened the covers around him.

Seifer sighed as his partner settled down again, this called for manipulation. "I know you're sleepy, babe--"

"Callin' me 'babe' won't get you anywhere either."

"I thought you liked that," Seifer shrugged and rested his chin on Zell's shoulder. "Sorry." He paused for a moment to lull Zell into a false sense of security. "I get lonely without you..." He pressed a gentle kiss to Zell's warm skin and smiled.

Zell sighed. It would be nice to just go to sleep with Seifer curled behind him, but a) his jeans were uncomfortable against Zell's bare skin and b) he wouldn't stay if he didn't get any action. "So what do you want?"

"Fuck," Seifer replied, nipping against any bit of skin he could reach. "I want you."

"You'll do all the work?" Zell sighed and rolled over, snuggling up to Seifer's chest. "I'm really fuckin' tired, Seif."

The gunblader slid an arm over his shoulders and pulled him close. "I know. Was the mission that bad?"

"I wandered through the Centra Crater for five days chasing the strangest fuckin' thin' you have ever seen, then when it let me fight it for more 'n like ten seconds it bloody paralyzed me through 100% status attack defenses. And I dunno how it did it." The smaller boy clutched Seifer closer and smiled softly. "Good thing Quez was around."

"How she'd get out without you summoning her?"

"Dunno, glad she did though," Zell yawned widely, baring his teeth and tongue to the gunblader.

Seifer felt himself get hotter. He wanted to grab a firm hold of that beautiful slick flesh and suck it into his own mouth. But he was busy manipulating Zell, he couldn't take time out to surrender to his own lusts. He had to make sure Zell was horny first. "I'm glad she did too," he smiled down at the bundle curled in his arms. "Baby?"

"Mmm," Zell opened one eye again. "You're still up for it huh?"

"In more ways than one," Seifer grinned. He couldn't help the innuendo; it was always fun to watch Zell cringe.

"Yeah, I'll bet." The little blond shook his head at his partner and pulled away, rolling back onto his back and lying there all spread out as Seifer took off his jeans. One hand reached out and slid up Seifer's arm until it came in contact with his neck, there his fingers curled around the gunblader's ear. "You'll be gentle?"

Seifer almost smiled genuinely. He brushed Zell's hair from his eyes, and lay softly over him, framing the martial artist's head between his forearms. "Always."

As Zell's arms curled around his neck a fist suddenly clenched his heart, and he knew it wasn't just sex any more. The way Zell held onto him was the clutch of a lover. He smirked and leant down to kiss along his little partner. They weren't quite lovers yet, neither of them loved the other so how could they be? Still, though, Zell was fucking beautiful in this moonlight.

The gunblader slipped his tongue across Zell's, letting the kiss show how desperately he wanted this body. How lovely it was to have something warm against him as he slept. He smiled and took Zell's hand in his own, entwining their fingers. Kissing it once he let Zell decide where their hands would lie, and went back to holding this body close, back to kissing him gently.

"Seif..." the little blond whispered.

"Mmm?" Seifer sat back from his partner for a minute to get the lube. "What's up?"

Zell shook his head, and sighed deeply. "Just sleepy. 'N' I want you *now*."

"Getting impatient, darlin'?" Seifer smiled as he lay back over him.

"Yes," Zell bucked his hips up closer to Seifer's.

"Demanding little bastard," Seifer smirked in reply and kissed him again deeper.

Seifer's tongue was warm in his mouth and almost cosy. It made him feel comfortable; Seifer's taste was familiar and his hands warm and smooth against his back. Zell felt it was a good thing Seifer almost always wore his black leather gloves; they kept his hands so smooth, no calluses for him.

The little martial artist giggled as fingertips trailed over his arse, curling gently around one cheek and pressing inside him. He hitched his thigh further up over Seifer's hip, smiling as the gunblader nipped once on his neck and pressed his finger inside. Zell took a slow, deep breath. With Seifer's breath in his ear, arms around his shoulders, he felt so at ease. How bizarre, in Seifer's arms? 'Yes,' he smiled. 'In Seifer's arms.'

The gunblader rapidly got sick of sliding just his fingers inside this beautiful boy. Sure, Zell was tired and ought to be treated well, but Seifer looked after his own needs first, he always had. So he took them out and thrust his cock, gently at first, into the martial artist's waiting arse. He shook his head slightly in disbelief at how good that felt, and jerked, pounding suddenly into his partner.

Zell dug in his nails and moaned. "Oh fucking *Hell*!" His neck arched again.

The gunblader grinned. Sometimes he fooled himself into thinking he only came to Zell for the sex, or that he really came for company but the truth of the matter, he felt now, was that he came for both, but mainly for the power. Garden was a stranger to him now, so was being a feared figure within it. No one respected him and no one wanted to know him, he had no friends and no colleagues even. Rinoa was his boss, according to Squall, and the other SeeDs could barely be referred to as colleagues when he never worked with them. His power and his place seemed more and more to be here, in Zell's bed. He scowled and slammed into the martial artist faster. Tightening his grip on the smaller boy's thigh he quickened the pace.

Beneath him Zell panted rapidly. He'd noticed over the past five months that Seifer's fucking changed direction as his mood did, yet there was no way to tell if his mood had changed until his fucking did. He wondered for a second how other people understood Seifer without his cock up their arse but the thought was swiftly driven from his mind as Seifer dug in his short nails and slammed into him, viciously thrusting to the hilt. As the feeling shivered through his shoulder blades, dissipating in an array of shudders and moans, Zell felt an ache in his chest and struggled to catch the gunblader's lips. A kiss would make it better, make it worse, make it everything. Seifer's tongue writhing down his throat could cause an ache at the bottom of his spine- one that tingled all the way down to the soles of his feet.

"Seifer..." he whispered. The gunblader hit him just right, perfectly attacking that spot, and releasing every inch of tension the martial artist possessed. He came against Seifer's taunt stomach and almost immediately his body relaxed. Happy, content, his hands loosed their hold, his thighs their grip and he lay his head back again, lips parting from Seifer's with a wet, sloppy sound.

The feeling of warmth against his stomach and Zell clenching then relaxing around him caused a little thrill to run up Seifer's arms, they tightened their grip around his possession and Seifer came deep inside of him, for a moment his energy was spent, and Zell's eyes flickered shut. The gunblader lay with him for a minute, still inside him and just holding the moment. When his breath returned he tried to prop himself back up on his elbows but the arms around his neck shifted and cuddled him closer. In his sleep Zell tightened his thighs around Seifer again and sighed, a contented smile on his lips. In the darkness the gunblader smiled back. It would be nice to stay together like this. So he lay back down and rolled so Zell was on his chest.

A few moments later however, Seifer was uncomfortable, his stomach felt kind of sticky. Frowning he slid out from underneath the smaller boy and held him in his arms. Shower time.

Surprisingly the little martial artist did not wake when Seifer cradled him in his lap and turned the shower on. They sat together in the bath, Seifer running wet fingers over his partner to clean him as Zell frowned and mumbled in his sleep. Seifer had made sure the water was not very hot and that Zell's face was not in the spray but as soon as he moved the martial artist got a nose full of water. He sat up and coughed. Seifer couldn't help but laugh.

"Nuh!" Zell wriggled in his captor's lap, spluttering as the warm water came back out his nose. "What the fuck?!"

"Calm down," Seifer gently pushed Zell from his lap and stood up. Now the martial artist was awake there was no need to have the water luke-warm. "I was just cleaning us up," he explained and turned the hot tap up. Mmm, nice and burning. Unfortunately Zell didn't think so. He yelped and scooted up the other end of the bath and sat there scowling.

"Fuck, Seifer, I was *asleep*," he ran a hand through his wet hair and frowned.

"I don't care, *I* was uncomfortable, so quit your whining."

Zell shrugged and stood up, moving closer to the gunblader, since he was in the shower he may as well have a wash. Slipping as close as he could the little martial artist rested his forehead against Seifer's shoulder. Even though the water was hotter Seifer's skin still felt warm and snuggly against him. The gunblader gave his little lopsided smile and figured it wouldn't hurt to cuddle just this once... though they had been a moment ago in bed, and last night... Seifer shook his head, he didn't cuddle Zell, he just gripped him so he wouldn't get away. Yeah, that was it.

As they stood together, the water dribbling off them both Seifer's mind began thinking up all sorts of interesting things they could be doing. Slowly one hand drifted almost of its own accord, down Zell's back and over his arse. Zell giggled and shook his head.

"Nah," he grinned and looked up at the older boy. "'M too tired ta stand." He knelt in the bathtub and waited for his partner to join him. When Seifer slid his knees either side of Zell's and pressed a passionate kiss to the martial artist's lips, the little blond grinned happily. He pushed forwards as the kiss deepened, but his knees began to hurt being pressed against the hard tub. "Mmn."

"What are you doing?" Seifer asked, pushing him back to rest on his heels.

"I wanna be on top," Zell mumbled, kissing him again.

Seifer was taken aback at the suggestion. "Huh?! What? You? On top?"

The martial artist sighed. He should have known Seifer would say that. "Just lie down."

To his surprise Seifer did as he was asked, albeit mostly out of curiosity. "What are you doing?" he asked again.

Zell just grinned and straddled his partner's lap. "I'm not gunna fuck you, Seif. That takes too much effort."

Seifer smiled, prepared to play along again since the idea of Zell dominating was out of the question. "So what are you gunna do then, darlin'?"

Zell grinned and ignored the question. "What would you say if I said you reminded me of Irvine when you say that all the time?"

The gunblader growled and grabbed his partner's hips. "I'd say you either had a death wish or want me to fuck you *real* hard."

"Try the latter."

A slow pleased smirk emerged on Seifer's lips. Perfect. "I thought you were tired."

"I was... I *am*. But I'm also cranky and horny so those two win out," Zell stroked one hand lazily up Seifer's chest and pinched a nipple. "Now shut up."

It was a bizarre sensation for Zell to be taking control but Seifer was willing to relinquish just this once. Who knew, maybe Zell would be good at it. Maybe, if his fighting skills were anything to go by, he *did* know just how to move his body to the greatest efficiency.

The little fighter tightened his knees around Seifer's ribs and for a second a memory returned to the gunblader. The memory of that drunken night they had spent together. He remembered Zell's legs tight around him and smiled. "Babe...?"

Zell ignored him, instead sucking one nipple into his mouth. Seifer winced a little, smiling dangerously even as he bit his own bottom lip. Zell was nipping his skin now, pinching a fold between his teeth just the way Seifer had done to him. The gunblader smirked, in a way it was nice to know Zell had been paying attention- and had learnt something.

The little martial artist smiled lazily when Seifer yelped at a particularly hard nip.

"Thought you were tired..." Seifer grinned but it quickly vanished under an open-mouthed moan as Zell ran thumb and forefinger down the gunblader's weeping erection.

"I'm OK now," Zell replied. "I think I might be able to manage a little... exercise." He smiled cheekily, fingertips still brushing softly against Seifer. He caught Seifer's wrists and brought them to his waist, curling the other boy's fingers around his hips and he lifted himself higher. The martial artist rested there for a moment smiling softly at Seifer as he rested just above his partner's engorged cock. The shower was running over him, trickling down his torso in rivulets and pooling where Zell's cock met Seifer's washboard stomach.

The gunblader scowled up at him. "Zell, you better be intending to follow through with that action."

Zell smiled softly and in a sudden movement impaled himself roughly onto his partner's painfully erect cock. Beneath him Seifer flinched in sympathy but soon remembered that moments ago his own come had been dribbling out from inside the martial artist. That was part of the reason they were in the shower in the first place. What need was there for lube when he'd been fucking there just ten minutes ago? The thought got him harder so he pumped his hips up a little in order to get the most satisfaction out of the tight caress of his partner's arse.

The martial artist threw his head back as Seifer slid his hands up Zell's back, fingernails rippling down his ribs and settling, tightly, at his side. He could feel his breath begin to come in shaky gasps as Seifer's hands urged him to move, pressing fingers into the muscles along his spine and pushing his lower back down onto him. Zell's tummy ached with pleasure as he rocked slightly forward, it was hot under the dribbling spray of the shower and his skin was beginning to burn as the pace quickened.

"Oh fuck... Oh *fuck*," Zell rolled his head and stretched his shoulders back. One of Seifer's hands steadied him as he thrust forward savagely, inside of him Seifer felt so fucking *good*, hot and hard and just plain orgasmic. How the Hell anyone in the world could turn down sex this good Zell couldn't fathom but he was damn glad they did, else he might not have such a gorgeous fuck buddy to make him feel better after such a shitty mission. He smiled rapturously and pressed his hands into Seifer's shoulders. The two of them were wet with more than just water now. His own erection was dripping onto Seifer's heaving chest, and the scent of their fucking and the shampoos Zell's shower was stocked with filled the air with a scent that got them both sweating.

"Zell...?" Seifer whispered.

The little martial artist looked down, the gunblader's eyes were closed and a small smile lay upon his face. Zell grinned and clenched his thighs. Capturing his bottom lip between his teeth the little blond thrust harder; slower, deeper strokes that brushed that spot inside him that made every damn cell in his body ache and burn with lust. He shivered and let his eyes sink shut. This shuddering, shiver-worthy sex was seeping into every part of him.

By now, though, his knees were weak and most of his weight was pressed down on Seifer's shoulders so he moved his hands instead to rest beside the gunblader's head on the bath floor. This brought their faces closer and in a second Seifer was kissing him gently, letting the martial artist's breath wash over him.

"Zell..." he whispered again. But the smaller boy pulled away from him, ripping his tongue from Seifer's mouth as one particular thrust almost made his arms give out under him. Seifer tightened his grip around Zell's waist and latched onto his neck, leaving his usual trail of soft marks against the martial artist's skin.

"Want..." Zell breathed. Breath was coming less and less now, short sharp pants that washed heatedly over Seifer's shoulder and shivered down his spine.

The tightness in Seifer's belly was strengthening, and his cock felt harder than he'd ever known. With every shift of his hips he tried to force himself deeper into the smaller boy but he'd begun to think that wasn't possible. Surprisingly though he liked this lazy way of fucking. Lazy, at least, for him, he didn't have to do much. Zell was beautiful writhing on top of him, twisting his hips like a belly dancer, but the gunblader still had to fight the urge to flip them over and fuck Zell into the porcelain. He wanted to hold him down and twist his hands into that smooth tan skin, to kiss him, bite him, penetrate him, fuck him. He felt a scowl emerging. Suddenly the muscles between his shoulder blades spasmed roughly and he arched his back up, chest colliding with Zell's. Mmm, warm and thumping and heaving, and wet and slippery from the dribbling shower and Zell's own pre-come.

"Hyne," Seifer managed to moan.

Zell smiled lazily and lifted one hand to grab at Seifer's shoulder, to slip around the curve of his jaw, to pinch the lobe of his ear. His eyes were slipping closed and his head fell back, mouth open as the fire in his belly flared. "Oh... Seifer." He came violently, the tension inside him building to a climax, sucking Seifer down with it until finally it was all released.

The gunblader smirked and forced Zell's hips down roughly one last time, filling his partner with proof of his desire. As his head thunked back against the bottom of the tub, Zell collapsed on top of him, a pleased little smile curling his lips. Seifer wrapped one arm around his shoulders. Unfortunately the shower water on their waists was beginning to go cold, so he sat up, still holding Zell and turned the hot tap again. The gunblader turned them a little so he could rest his shoulder against the wall, and set about cleaning them both up. When he'd done as much as he could without removing himself from his partner Seifer laid the boy down on his back and slowly extracted himself from his tight heat.

The martial artist moaned unhappily. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Gotta get cleaned up, go back to bed," Seifer replied, running a wash cloth over them both.

Zell smiled and stretched out his arms for the older boy. "I'm clean. Let's go ta bed."

Seifer laughed. Sometimes the little blond could be so damn cute it made him wonder how he could have bared to be mean to him. But then he'd also cried a lot. That was always an incentive for a bully.

Turning the shower off he lifted Zell from the wet tub and sat on the bathmat to dry them both. By this time Zell was exhausted, the mission had worn him out not to mention the sex, so he was curled dozing against Seifer's chest. After drying him thoroughly Seifer toweled himself off and carried the smaller boy back to bed.

Zell awoke refreshed and almost blissful. Seifer was spooned behind him, arms around his waist and kissing his neck and shoulders gently. The smaller boy twisted his neck to see Seifer behind him but in doing so shifted his hips slightly also. It took him all of five seconds to realise the gunblader had his cock buried in his arse again.

"What the fuck are you playing at?" he demanded.

Seifer smiled sleepily against the warmth of Zell's shoulder blade. "I wanted you."

"I can tell," Zell snapped. He wriggled uncomfortably but noted quickly that that just made him feel real good and Seifer's breath speeded up too. "Seif..."

"Mmm?" The gunblader was smirking again, Zell could feel it against his neck.

"Could you-"

Seifer cut him off, nipping his shoulder and thrusting gently. "You don't want that."

Zell bit his tongue, sometimes it drove him insane the way Seifer would tell him what he did and did not want. But more often than not he was right. One of the gunblader's hands drifted down over his hip and softly petted the base of his penis. "Don't..."

"You don't mean that," Seifer leant further into him and shifted to rest on one elbow as he pressed his hips closer to Zell's backside.

"Don't tell me what I mean," the martial artist snapped. He buried his face in his pillow and desperately tried to tell himself he wanted to just go about his stupid day doing stupid things and not start it beautifully with some hot, hot sex. But he couldn't deny his lust for long. "Fuck me."

The gunblader laughed. "With pleasure." From the anger in Zell's voice as he ordered Seifer around the gunblader could tell this sex would be lots of fun if they played a bit rough. With this in mind he slammed roughly deeper into the heat that surrounded his cock. But he didn't really want sex, or even a good fuck. He found himself wanting to shag, to just pound into the martial artist fast and rough, he wanted to make Zell beg and moan like a whore. A broader smirk emerged at the thought. So Seifer pushed Zell over onto his tummy and knelt behind him without pulling out. He lifted the smaller boy's hips onto his lap and began thrusting, softly at first, inside him.

The martial artist bit his pillow. Seifer's fingers were tough as wire on his hips, pulling him back to meet each thrust and holding him still as the gunblader retracted his cock before slamming back in. Zell moaned loudly and tried to bury his face deeper. What a perfect way to wake up.

After a moment Seifer reached for Zell's leaking cock and jerked it violently a few times. It hurt but it also sent ribbons of pure fucking ecstasy up the martial artist's veins. "Seifer..."

The gunblader responded by tightening his grip and slamming him harder into the mattress. For a second Seifer found himself imagining it wasn't Zell he was buried to the hilt within but someone else, someone who loved him. When Zell moaned his name his eyes flashed open angrily but within a second he was feeling surprisingly guilty for thinking of someone else. He couldn't understand why, Zell didn't mean anything to him. Did he?

Feeling the need, suddenly, to get his fingers into Seifer's flesh Zell reached behind him and clenched the gunblader's thigh. When they came in contact and the taller boy shuddered at the pain of nails embedded in his leg, and Zell let himself fall into orgasm. Letting go suddenly and almost screaming in pleasure as he felt Seifer release inside him. The little blond turned his head to his right and lay, almost asleep again, with his arse in the air and Seifer still inside of it.

The gunblader chuckled and rolled them over to spoon together. "I wonder if it's just my inexperience with men that makes you seem such a good fuck..." he mused.

Zell frowned. Was that a compliment? Maybe it was Seifer's roundabout way of giving one? He sighed and snuggled backwards, closer to his partner and impaling himself deeper onto his cock again. His brain was not working anymore. Sex first thing in the morning spelt out the mood for the rest of the day. Lazy, and cuddly, and... good.

"Do you have a mission this week?"

"Nnn," Zell shook his head. He was visiting Ma this weekend instead.

"Thank Hyne we're not in Trabia anymore."

Zell smiled and pulled the gunblader's arm tighter around his tummy. He cradled the hand under his chin, licking it gently.

Seifer laughed. Obviously his little Chicken had turned into a cat. "I s'pose I should've waited for you to wake..."

A quick shake of the head proved him wrong.

"No?" Seifer sighed and stroked his thumb across Zell's nipple, smile broadening as the martial artist shivered and clenched around his satiated sex again. "Trouble with you is I never know when I'm making you do something or if you want to do it but don't want to admit it to me."

A shrug.

Seifer rested his chin on the dozing boy's shoulder. "You recommend I just make you do whatever I want you to?"

Another shake of the head.

A little shiver flitted down Zell's back as Seifer, in a strange uncharacteristic moment, let out a sad, defeated sigh. Usually his sighs were frustrated not depressed. Something in the action got through the fog of Zell's sleepy mind and woke him up. He twisted slightly, tiredly and gazed into the sea-green eyes of his childhood enemy.

Seifer frowned. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

He seemed so concerned Zell responded the only way he could think of, he slid his face closer to his partner and pressed his lips to Seifer's. It wasn't a kiss, not really, just the gentle brush of his lips, slightly pursed against Seifer's own.

The gunblader frowned, puzzled. "Mind-blowing sex and gentle kisses?" Seifer's smile returned. "You're full of contradictions, baby."

Zell grinned lazily. "So are you."

Author's Note

*sniffles* How can anyone say these two don't belong together? They're just so damn CUTE!

During the beginning of the sex scene I was listening to 'The Ship Song' by Nick Cave and it was just so sweet it came out in my writing. Still though, I think it kind of works. Gets my point across. Yes, Moruwen, they're falling in love *holds up hearts and flowers*

As for Honolee, I was trying to think of a town name and the first thing that came into my head was 'Puff The Magic Dragon' so... My apologies, I couldn't get rid of it. Also, this is now the longest chapter. Squeee!

Next chapter's working title: Going Home. YAY MA DINCHT ARRIVES (again)!!! I agree with Zell, she's so awesome.

And you! Yeah, you with the hair! I like reviews. Don't make me demean myself by begging for feedback. 'Cause I will. Even if you're just telling me I'm awesome. I don't mind, honest XD

If you've got anything to say, or have questions etc. come visit me at live journal or email me and I will endeavour to answer... though I'm generally no good with Maths or Science :)

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