London Bridge
A one-shot by Midori Akita
Summary: The art of gift giving is never mastered.
Pairing: Seiner
POV: Seifer Almasy (3)
DISCLAIMER: I sadly don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, the games would be all Struggle matches between Seifer and Hayner and how to get Axel's pants off in the fastest time. Plus, Larxene would be dead.
Dedication: To gaarashikasasukefan, who needs more Seiner fanfics.
Seifer Almasy stood at the Sandlot, with his friends Fuu and Rai. They were both concentrating on a Struggle match, leaving Seifer to his own thoughts. He adjusted the black beanie on his head.
Tomorrow, Monday (or so Seifer thought) was Hayner's birthday. Hayner, his boyfriend of about 4 months, was turning 17.
And let's just say…..Seifer wasn't good at gift giving. He never bothered to give any of his friends anything for birthdays besides a card with 'Happy Birthday, From Seifer' written in the closest writing tool, written on the nearest paper.
But he couldn't just do that for Hayner, not this year. Hayner was…..special.
His mind tripped over itself thinking that Hayner was special.
A hand waved in front of his face, making him twitch.
"Earth….to….SEIFER!!" Fuu yelled at him.
"No need to yell at me Ms. Three-Words-At-A-Time," he said and got up off the wooden bench.
"When you start staring into space for 5 minutes, there's a need, y'know?" Rai said and elbowed his shoulder.
"Whatever…" Seifer muttered and went back to gift ideas.
Rai and Fuu apparently gave up on him and went back to Struggling.
Candy? No……who knows what type of weird-ass candy Hayner likes. Gift card? But what the hell for? Movie tickets…..fuck that.
"Ugh!"
Rai looked up from Fuu. "What's got your panties in a twist, fruit cup?"
I glared at him first….then sighed. "Hayner's birthday is tomorrow."
Fuu snorted. "Birthdays are easy."
"Maybe for you," Rai muttered. "Anyway…..do you know what he wants?" he asked with a devilish grin.
"I just remembered this morning!" he exclaimed.
"Seifer, you idiot," Fuu stated plainly.
"Oh yes, it's my fault the chickenwuss never told me!" He turned around and walked away.
He could hear Rai and Fuu protesting, Rai adding 'y'know' to every other sentence and Fuu never saying more than three words at a time. He ignored them by putting his headphones in his ears and blasting some song that was unrecognizable when the volume was up so loud.
Seifer ended up walking around town, peering into shop windows for anything that Hayner might like. Half the stores were either those stores preps and overly gay (well….maybe Seifer shouldn't say that considering he was gay……but not overly gay like some of the gays-….guys at school. Sora Strife was practically puking rainbows half the time, and don't even start with Marluxia).
And……speaking of Strife brothers…..Roxas happened to be walking toward him with a distant look in his eyes.
"Oh hey, Strife," Seifer greeted flat-faced and tapped Roxas on the shoulder when he didn't respond.
"Huh?! Oh….'sup Almasy?"
Seifer clicked his tongue and paused whatever song was playing. "Trying to get Hayner something-"
"Say no more…..Hayner's the most difficult mother fucker to shop for," Roxas said and waved his hand.
"So I'm not the only one?" Roxas shook his head and turned around to walk with Seifer. "Good…"
"I haven't been able to find a gift for Hayner since we were 6 years old-" Roxas started to say, but was interrupted by his phone going off. He looked at the caller ID and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah? Oh….hey Axel……..no I don't miss you, I only left 5 minutes ago……walking with Seifer……….Almasy, you dolt, do we know anyone else named Seifer?!……..shopping for Hayner……….because it's his birthday…….stop calling him an asshat…….mmk, what d'you want me to do about it?….fine I'll get some more, what flavour?.......what the fuck, why orange?!.......you know what, never mind, bye."
He shut the phone and shoved it back into one of his million pockets.
"I don't wanna know the other side of that conversation, Strife," Seifer said, his eye twitching.
"I didn't wanna know either, but I was forced to…"
Seifer cast a glance around them. They were in the southern part of Twilight Town, a place with not many stores and more houses. Seifer grabbed Roxas by the elbowed and spun him around so they could go down a different street.
"Ow, you douche waffle, you could have said 'turn around' instead of killing my arm," Roxas complained and rubbed his arm.
"You're starting to sound like chickenwuss," Seifer said and smirked.
"If I go home with a bruise that Axel doesn't remember giving me, you and I'll be dead meat."
"…..More than I needed to know, but ok then. Where're your brothers?" he asked, making conversation so he wouldn't be bored out of his mind.
"Sora's off with Riku and Cloud is with Zack and Kadaj," Roxas said, looking into a window with sports equipment.
Seifer paused. "….Don't Zack and Cloud hate Kadaj?" he asked, confused. He knew that since they were young, Kadaj hated Cloud and Zack for some reason involving his mother. They were fighting ever since.
{A/N: Teehee, Final Fantasy 7 reference! :3 If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go watch Final Fantasy 7!}
"Yeah, but they were put together for a project in college. None of them are happy about it."
"And……Riku is Kadaj's kid brother….right?"
Either way, they're all still Sephiroth spawn.
"Yep…..and Cloud's kid brother is dating Kadaj's kid brother, and now all of this is fucked up."
Seifer blinked. "That'll be a fun Christmas gathering."
Roxas started counting money in his pocket. "They already decided to keep the families separate, especially when Sephiroth is in town." He looked again into the store. "I'm gonna duck in here for a minute, kay?"
"You don't need my permission, mini chickenwuss," Seifer replied and grinned evilly.
Roxas flipped him off and went into the store, the bell in the doorway jingling when the door opened. Seifer sighed and sat on the doorstep of the store. He rested his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.
"Good God, I'm such a shitty boyfriend…" he muttered to nobody in particular. "I didn't get him a present yet and his birthday is today!"
Next door, the door opened and a ton of preschoolers flooded out the doors to their mothers and fathers waiting outside the white-painted gates. Seifer remembered when he and Hayner were in preschool, Mrs. Latura's class. Hayner and Seifer were best friends then, before they got in some fight over who got to be first in line for Blitz Ball.
Seifer could hear a familiar tune playing from inside, a tune that he could remember Mrs. Latura playing in the room to make the fall asleep. Seifer couldn't remember the lyrics, which bugged him, so he listened more carefully.
How will we build it up,
Build it up, Build it up?
How will we build it up,
My fair lady?
Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, Silver and gold.
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair lady.
Silver and gold?
A good gift…..something easy enough to look for in Twilight Town. Seifer had $60 in his pocket, which was sure to be enough for some kind of chain for the wallet that Hayner constantly lost.
Roxas chose that moment to emerge from the store with a bag in his hand, putting his wallet back into his pocket.
"Strife, I've had an epiphany! Where can I find the nearest jewelry store?!"
"……I'm not going to ask why you wanna go to a jewelry store, but it's down that way," Roxas replied and pointed down the street.
Seifer lead the way down the street, searching the windows for the word 'jewelry' anywhere. They found it eventually, the jewelry store that Marluxia's parents owned (hey, maybe he would get a discount for knowing the pink-haired fruit!).
Seifer looked for a wallet chain, and eventually found one he like. It was made of silver and gold, the metals alternating between links and coming together in a ring with small Japanese kanji etched around it.
He loved it. He knew Hayner would love it. Hell, Rai would probably even think it was nice, and Rai hated anything made of gold or silver, for some strange and unknown reason.
Too bad it was 200 dollars over his budget.
They left the jewelry store with crestfallen expressions. Heading back toward the preschool, with nowhere else to go yet, Seifer heard the music being played over again.
Gold and silver I have none,
I have none, I have none.
Gold and silver I have none,
My fair lady.
Seifer sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. Roxas suggested getting ice cream from the parlor across from the preschool. Seifer agreed, stomach looking forward to some cookie dough filled ice cream.
When Seifer and Roxas, who got mint flavoured (ewww), were half done eating, the parlor started to empty and all was quiet.
Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, Wood and clay.
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.
The music reached his sensitive ears again.
Wood and clay…..
"Strife," Seifer said between licks. "Isn't there a craft store somewhere too?"
Roxas ate the last of his waffle cone. "Yeah, but it's on the east side."
Seifer threw away the rest of his ice cream and started going to the east side of the town. Roxas yelled, but Seifer was concentrating on what to get Hayner and didn't hear him.
"Oh thanks for leaving and wasting my money, dickwad," Roxas muttered.
"…..What the hell did you get in that sports store anyway?" Seifer asked randomly. He was going to ask before, but somehow he forgot.
"Oh…I got Hayner a new Struggle vest, his broke in practice last week."
Why didn't I think of that?!
Because you aren't on his Struggle team and wouldn't know that his vest broke, dipshit!
His mind scolded him for wondering an idiotic question.
"Oh, good idea," Seifer muttered.
When they made it to the craft store, Seifer went like a little kid over to where the clay was kept. He sat at one of the little tables for children to make things and began molding something out of multicoloured clay.
After maybe 10 minutes, during which Roxas received a call from a pissed of Cloud about how Kadaj wrecked their poster for the project. Roxas went off to find a new one for them, leaving Seifer to his….arts.
When Roxas returned, he saw that Seifer made a bowl made of coil, each one alternating between neon blue and black, Hayner's favourite colours. Etched on the side was 'For Hayner', done in Seifer's not-so-neat excuse for handwriting.
"Nice," was all Roxas said when he saw it.
They paid for their supplies and walked out. Dark clouds were rolling over Twilight Town, dark and slightly menacing, but neither of the teenagers paid any notice to it. They just wanted to get home, and maybe pick up some stuff for the party that Roxas said he and Sora were planning for Hayner.
Roxas left Seifer once again to go into a store where he could buy some soda and snacks. Seifer was left outside with no roof over his head. And sure enough….it started raining.
The clay in Seifer's hand began to distort into an unrecognizable shape within minutes.
Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, Wash away.
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.
Seifer looked around to see where the music was coming from, and he saw that the craft store was next to a little kid's bookstore. Seifer could see little children in a circle around an elderly woman, reading a story. The music flowed out the door.
"GOD MOTHER FUCKIN' DAMMIT!!!" Seifer yelled at the sky and threw the blob of clay down to the ground. He hung his head, and the fat raindrops made his beanie fall off his head, making it fall onto the clay, staining it with neon blue that was sure to never come out.
"Oh fuck this!" he yelled again and ran across the street. The bookstore had a small overhang where the rain wouldn't hit him anymore. Here, the music was louder.
Take a key and lock her up,
Lock her up, Lock her up.
Take a key and lock her up,
My fair lady.
Seifer though for a minute, then suddenly a word popped into his mind. He grinned. The perfect gift, one he knew couldn't be wrecked by lack of money or weather.
He darted across the street and picked up his beanie, which was half covered in neon blue clay. Not caring, he stuffed it in his pocket and ran off, forgetting about Roxas entirely.
He ran to Hayner's house, soaking wet from the heavy rain. His blonde hair was wet and hanging in his eyes, making it difficult for him to see.
A block from Hayner's house, he stopped running. Why tire himself out when he was about to do that anyway?
{A/N: HINT HINT HINT ;D}
He shook the rain out of his hair and rang the doorbell. After a couple of seconds the door opened.
Seifer's mind tripped over itself for the second time that day.
In front of him stood Hayner, his Hayner, in nothing but boxers. The smooth muscles of his chest and stomach were in plain view, making Seifer want to run his hands over them a thousand times.
"……Do you always answer the door half naked, or am I just special?" he asked.
"Psh, I checked to make sure it was you first, dumbass," Hayner replied and grinned.
"Shut it, chickenwuss."
Hayner stuck his tongue out. "Don't stick your tongue out at me unless you plan to follow through with it," Seifer warned. Hayner continued, so Seifer shrugged and kissed Hayner.
After a couple of minutes like that, Hayner reclaimed his tongue and pulled Seifer inside.
"Happy birthday," Seifer murmured when they were sitting on the couch. Seifer has pulled Hayner halfway onto his lap, wrapping his arms around Hayner's skinny waist, hands clasped in front of his boxers.
"Thanks."
"So remind me why you're half naked?" Seifer asked and smiled.
"It's my house, I could walk around full nude if I wanted to," Hayner replied smugly.
"Yeah, and just imagine if Pence and Olette walked in your house when you were doing that."
Hayner rolled his eyes and turned on the TV. "Olette would knock before entering anyone's house….and Pence..."
"Pence is too much of a retard to knock on the door," Seifer said.
"And Rai is too much of a retard to make it up the front steps," Hayner retorted. "You make fun of my friends, I make fun of yours."
"Deal, chickenwuss."
They stopped talking for a bit to watch some comedy show on TV. Instead of looking at the TV, Seifer felt himself staring at Hayner's abs.
"So," Hayner said. The show was apparently over. Seifer reluctantly tore his eyes from Hayner's abs (or….probably a little farther south….if you catch my drift) to look into his eyes. "What'd you get me?"
"Why do you automatically assume I got you something?"
"You were out all day, and I know that if you hadn't been looking for something you would have been over here at noon instead of 6 at night."
Seifer ignored that. "Where's your mom?"
"Working," he replied simply.
"Oh," was all Seifer could say.
His plan was going perfectly.
"So can I have my present now?" Hayner asked again. Seifer didn't answer, and Hayner elbowed him in the ribs.
"Fine. But," he said as he lifted Hayner off of him. "You have to keep your eyes closed until I say."
"Fine," Hayner said and crossed his arms while closing his eyes.
Seifer ducked out of the living room and went into the bathroom. He stripped down to his boxers, leaving his clothes piled up on the floor.
Was he really going to do this?
Only one answer…
Hell yes.
Breathing out the last of his dignity and self esteem, he walked quietly back into the living room. Hayner was laying stomach up on the couch, eyes still closed.
It's like he wants my plan to work!
"I know you're there," Hayner said without opening his eyes. "Your nose whistles when you try to be quiet."
"Oh fuck you," Seifer joked and stood next to the couch.
{A/N: That's exactly the point Seifer .}
"So what's my present?" Hayner asked yet again and let a smile grace his lips.
Seifer acted quickly, getting on top of Hayner and straddling his hips.
He grazed his teeth against Hayner's ear and whispered, "Me."
----------------------------------------END!!!---------------------------------------------------
Hehe….cliffhanger! During writing this I kept thinking of that song 'Birthday Sex'….since that's basically what happens. Also, I don't own London Bridge by whoever wrote the rhyme.
Please review? :D