AN: Square soft owns them, I don't, so go sulk in the corner. This is about
Zell having a tiny bit of luck with his day and the results of it the next.
If you don't like Zell being picked on by Seifer, don't read this fic.
Every Chicken-Wuss has his day.
Zell, as always, was sitting at a table, wolfing down his hotdogs when Seifer happened past. Seifer, always one to tease the 'chicken-wuss', slapped him hard on the back. Zell started to choke. Seifer laughed and continued to walk on. Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa, all seeing his problem tried to help him. Nothing worked until Squall walked past and dropped his gunblade. It hit the ground and the smacked hard into Zell's back. Zell coughed up the particle of hotdog. Rinoa threw her arms around Squall.
"You saved him!" She exclaimed happily and he shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever." He collected his gunblade and reattached it. Rinoa clung to his sleeve and disappeared with him. Selphie spotted Irvine, ever the ladies man, flirting with a bunch of adoring students. She abandoned Zell to goad Irvine, leaving just him and Quistis.
"Hotdog?" Zell offered as Quistis sat down. Zell was fishing for gossip and they both knew it. He could and would gossip worse and more than the girls. He was almost the biggest gossip at the garden. Also his t- boarding antics and habits of being humiliated by Seifer made him rather well known. Not loved by all, but just well known.
"Have an accident chicken-wuss?" Seifer sneered as he sank down beside Quistis. Zell sighed as Quistis leant against Seifer's frame, nestling into his coat. Zell looked at Seifer and decided, to himself, Do I want to be humiliated by this guy for ever? Or am I going to take a stand and believe in myself and fight back? Zell shoved his tray of hotdogs off the table, causing more than one pair of eyes to focus on him. He could see them all, thinking he'd done it accidentally.
"Seifer, I'm sick of that god aweful nick name you keep puttin' on me!" Zell said and Quistis, ever the right person, scrambled out of the way from between them.
"What, grown some balls chicken-wuss?"
"Yeah, as a matter-a-fact, I have. And I'm askin' fer the right to call ya out, right here, right now!" Zell leapt up from his seat and began to shadow box and Seifer grinned evilly.
"If you insist chicken-wuss, come on, whatcha got?" Seifer was acting cocksure and big, as if he could take the martial arts SeeD on easily. Zell continued to shadow box as Seifer got up slowly and smirked, his usual sneer deepened with hatred.
"Now now, come on Zell, really, you don't have to do this." Unexpectedly, Rinoa resurfaced and stepped between them, her hands extended in the usual delaying stance, palms up and extended towards each of the people's chests.
"Get out of the way Rinoa," Seifer said and he knew his voice had the power to affect her slightly, "we don't want you getting hurt now do we?" Rinoa wavered, but Selphie's cry broke what tenious hold Seifer had on her.
"BOOYAKA!" Selphie cried, as she jumped up and down on a table, trying to see what was happening in the centre of the growing circle of surrounding people. Zell looked at Rinoa as she turned her head to look at him. He was unsmiling and nothing like the usual cheerful bouncy over energetic Zell.
"Let me at him Rinoa!" Zell said it plainly and then Seifer touched her wrist, his fingers gently trailing around it, tracing a gentle pattern, making her skin tingle and her hand tremble.
"Come on, just let this chicken-wuss try and have a go, I won't hurt him too badly." Seifer drawled and Rinoa pulled her wrist away and reluctantly stepped back into the circle of supporters and stickybeaks. Raijin and Fujin were behind Seifer with Quistis, while Selphie had dragged Irvine through the crowd to stand behind Zell where Rinoa now stood.
Zell continued to glare at Seifer, hatred no one knew he had burned deep in his heart, a flame by which he would fight until there was nothing for the hatred to hate and for the flame to burn about. Seifer made the first move, swinging a punch at Zell. Zell blocked it and drove his other fist into Seifer's midriff. Seifer gasped, but his fist made a beeline for Zell's nose. Zell was just too late to block, but he swung his head and Seifer got him just above the ear.
Zell's foot swung under and behind Seifer's feet and swept them out from under him. Seifer fell and Zell leapt ontop of him. Grappling and rolling they swore at one another, cursing. But after a few minutes, it was obvious that Zell, that's right, ZELL had the upper hand. Seifer headbutted him, ramming his forehead extremely hard into Zell's. Zell's head dropped slightly, but then it came back up and one hand jerked off Seifer's wrist and drove into the side of Seifer's head. Seifer fell unconscious and Zell leapt to his feet, pumping his fists in the air.
"Oh Yeah! Zell is the master, ZELL IS THE MASTER!" Zell yelled happily. He finally calmed down to see Quistis kneeling down beside Seifer, nursing his head in her lap, her hands running over his forehead. Rinoa grabbed his arm and spun him.
"Happy now! You knocked him out!" Rinoa spat at him and it landed on the front of his jacket. Rinoa and the surrounding people dispersed. He had just recovered his T-board and he jumped on and headed off, to the training area. He got there and found the grat's and t-rexaurs easily defeated and then he left, shrugging. They'd never been that easy. He found Selphie sitting on the wall, staring at something.
"Hi Self, what's on your mind?"
"Irvine."
"Where is he? What's he done? Promise to tell me everything?"
"He's down there polishing that gun, I swear it means more to him than anything, up to and including me."
"What's he done?"
"Nothing, but ignore me."
"So, is this a fight?"
"No! Of course not Zell, but if you're interested in me...just say so."
"Oh no, it's not that, just lookin' fer some gossip."
"Well if that's what you're after, I heard that Xu was trying to date Cid, how's that?"
"Old news."
"Oh, well Squall and Rinoa just had a fight, you can hear her stomping a mile away and he's just gone into the training area."
"That's new, See ya!" Zell hurried off, blurting it out to everyone he passed. He had the word spread extremely quickly. He found Rinoa sitting on the steps and her head in her hands.
"Hey, what's up?" Zell asked, settling himself down next to her. Rinoa jumped and her eyes locked on his quickly. He could see the ruined makeup, the tear tracks and her bottom lip was still quivering. Suddenly Zell was aware of a third presense. He turned and found Squall there. Rinoa looked between both of them.
"Don't tell me, you've had a fight with him haven't you?" Zell said, ignoring Squall completely. Rinoa nodded and buried her face back into her hands. Squall pretended to walk away and settled up on the wall, making Zell comfort her. He put his arms around her and she wept on his shoulder.
"I don't know why I said I what I did. It came out all wrong and I think I said something that hurt him and he wouldn't tell me and now I think he'd going to dump me for Quistis, they've always liked one another so much...." Rinoa continued to sob and Zell gently rubbed her back. Squall looked at Rinoa and then at Zell's helpless expression.
"Rinoa, I'm sure if you explained to him...."
"He walked out after he yelled at me, I just couldn't help it, I didn't know what I'd done so I yelled back and well, I don't think he'll listen to me anymore. The amount of times this has happened.....I wouldn't be really surprised if he did leave me. I mean I'm not exactly special to him......." Rinoa's voice trailed off under another siege of tears. Squall got down off the wall and touched her back gingerly. She looked at Zell and then pushed back to turn around. Squall sank down beside her and looked into her eyes.
"Hey." Squall said it softly and Zell watched Rinoa's eyes fill up again. Squall opened his arms and she sank into them, her tears falling again.
"I'll go." Zell said and Squall ignored him, his attention fixed on the crying girl on his shoulder, as she told him all the things she hadn't meant to say or do. Zell walked off once again and found Selphie walking after Irvine.
"Irvine, damn it stop!" Selphie grabbed the back of his coat. Irvine stopped and turned, looking down at her as he shifted his grip on his gun.
"What is it this time?"
"You never answered my question."
"You're question was stupid and insensitive."
"All I asked was if your gun meant more to you than me."
"Well, you should have known the answer to it without asking."
"Yeah, you'll always choose that gun over me."
"Well, obviously we aren't as close as I thought we were."
"Are you saying you'd have me over your gun?"
"If I had to lose one, I would lose my gun before I would let myself lose you again."
"Hey, guys, ease up, it's a great day today, go chill somewhere, don't argue." As much as Zell disliked Irvine, he couldn't stand to see Selphie's cheery face so clouded and down on herself. Irvine glared at him.
"Go meddle somewhere else Chicken-wuss, and this is your first and final warning." Irvine said. Zell knew he'd been lucky with Seifer and scampered off. He found Quistis sitting in the garden, obviously by herself by the way the bench was unoccupied.
"Hey, you alone?"
"Yeah, he's off somewhere." They both knew who she meant by he.
"So, you ok about before?"
"Yeah, but he's angrier than ever at you now, so I'd steer clear."
"I guess so, I shouldn't wish for too much luck with him." Zell said as he caught a glimpse of him heading towards them.
"I guess I'll be going." Zell walked off, worried then. He forgot the scene immediately when he saw Rinoa and Squall talking, actually more like Rinoa talking and Squall staring off into middle space. Zell walked past them as he looked at his watch. Hotdog time! He hurried down and ate quickly, as he watched the sun set and drop out of sight. He stood and headed to his room.
Zell started awake at the pounding on the door. He opened it and Seifer stood there grinning. This time, Zell didn't realise what hit him, only that one minute he was opening the door to Seifer and the next he was lying on a bed in the infirmary. Seifer appeared with his usual sneer planted widely on his lips.
"Every Chicken-Wuss has his day and you had yours yesterday....." Seifer's words died off into wicked laughter. Zell groaned and made to roll off the bed to find he was strapped down!
Every Chicken-Wuss has his day.
Zell, as always, was sitting at a table, wolfing down his hotdogs when Seifer happened past. Seifer, always one to tease the 'chicken-wuss', slapped him hard on the back. Zell started to choke. Seifer laughed and continued to walk on. Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa, all seeing his problem tried to help him. Nothing worked until Squall walked past and dropped his gunblade. It hit the ground and the smacked hard into Zell's back. Zell coughed up the particle of hotdog. Rinoa threw her arms around Squall.
"You saved him!" She exclaimed happily and he shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever." He collected his gunblade and reattached it. Rinoa clung to his sleeve and disappeared with him. Selphie spotted Irvine, ever the ladies man, flirting with a bunch of adoring students. She abandoned Zell to goad Irvine, leaving just him and Quistis.
"Hotdog?" Zell offered as Quistis sat down. Zell was fishing for gossip and they both knew it. He could and would gossip worse and more than the girls. He was almost the biggest gossip at the garden. Also his t- boarding antics and habits of being humiliated by Seifer made him rather well known. Not loved by all, but just well known.
"Have an accident chicken-wuss?" Seifer sneered as he sank down beside Quistis. Zell sighed as Quistis leant against Seifer's frame, nestling into his coat. Zell looked at Seifer and decided, to himself, Do I want to be humiliated by this guy for ever? Or am I going to take a stand and believe in myself and fight back? Zell shoved his tray of hotdogs off the table, causing more than one pair of eyes to focus on him. He could see them all, thinking he'd done it accidentally.
"Seifer, I'm sick of that god aweful nick name you keep puttin' on me!" Zell said and Quistis, ever the right person, scrambled out of the way from between them.
"What, grown some balls chicken-wuss?"
"Yeah, as a matter-a-fact, I have. And I'm askin' fer the right to call ya out, right here, right now!" Zell leapt up from his seat and began to shadow box and Seifer grinned evilly.
"If you insist chicken-wuss, come on, whatcha got?" Seifer was acting cocksure and big, as if he could take the martial arts SeeD on easily. Zell continued to shadow box as Seifer got up slowly and smirked, his usual sneer deepened with hatred.
"Now now, come on Zell, really, you don't have to do this." Unexpectedly, Rinoa resurfaced and stepped between them, her hands extended in the usual delaying stance, palms up and extended towards each of the people's chests.
"Get out of the way Rinoa," Seifer said and he knew his voice had the power to affect her slightly, "we don't want you getting hurt now do we?" Rinoa wavered, but Selphie's cry broke what tenious hold Seifer had on her.
"BOOYAKA!" Selphie cried, as she jumped up and down on a table, trying to see what was happening in the centre of the growing circle of surrounding people. Zell looked at Rinoa as she turned her head to look at him. He was unsmiling and nothing like the usual cheerful bouncy over energetic Zell.
"Let me at him Rinoa!" Zell said it plainly and then Seifer touched her wrist, his fingers gently trailing around it, tracing a gentle pattern, making her skin tingle and her hand tremble.
"Come on, just let this chicken-wuss try and have a go, I won't hurt him too badly." Seifer drawled and Rinoa pulled her wrist away and reluctantly stepped back into the circle of supporters and stickybeaks. Raijin and Fujin were behind Seifer with Quistis, while Selphie had dragged Irvine through the crowd to stand behind Zell where Rinoa now stood.
Zell continued to glare at Seifer, hatred no one knew he had burned deep in his heart, a flame by which he would fight until there was nothing for the hatred to hate and for the flame to burn about. Seifer made the first move, swinging a punch at Zell. Zell blocked it and drove his other fist into Seifer's midriff. Seifer gasped, but his fist made a beeline for Zell's nose. Zell was just too late to block, but he swung his head and Seifer got him just above the ear.
Zell's foot swung under and behind Seifer's feet and swept them out from under him. Seifer fell and Zell leapt ontop of him. Grappling and rolling they swore at one another, cursing. But after a few minutes, it was obvious that Zell, that's right, ZELL had the upper hand. Seifer headbutted him, ramming his forehead extremely hard into Zell's. Zell's head dropped slightly, but then it came back up and one hand jerked off Seifer's wrist and drove into the side of Seifer's head. Seifer fell unconscious and Zell leapt to his feet, pumping his fists in the air.
"Oh Yeah! Zell is the master, ZELL IS THE MASTER!" Zell yelled happily. He finally calmed down to see Quistis kneeling down beside Seifer, nursing his head in her lap, her hands running over his forehead. Rinoa grabbed his arm and spun him.
"Happy now! You knocked him out!" Rinoa spat at him and it landed on the front of his jacket. Rinoa and the surrounding people dispersed. He had just recovered his T-board and he jumped on and headed off, to the training area. He got there and found the grat's and t-rexaurs easily defeated and then he left, shrugging. They'd never been that easy. He found Selphie sitting on the wall, staring at something.
"Hi Self, what's on your mind?"
"Irvine."
"Where is he? What's he done? Promise to tell me everything?"
"He's down there polishing that gun, I swear it means more to him than anything, up to and including me."
"What's he done?"
"Nothing, but ignore me."
"So, is this a fight?"
"No! Of course not Zell, but if you're interested in me...just say so."
"Oh no, it's not that, just lookin' fer some gossip."
"Well if that's what you're after, I heard that Xu was trying to date Cid, how's that?"
"Old news."
"Oh, well Squall and Rinoa just had a fight, you can hear her stomping a mile away and he's just gone into the training area."
"That's new, See ya!" Zell hurried off, blurting it out to everyone he passed. He had the word spread extremely quickly. He found Rinoa sitting on the steps and her head in her hands.
"Hey, what's up?" Zell asked, settling himself down next to her. Rinoa jumped and her eyes locked on his quickly. He could see the ruined makeup, the tear tracks and her bottom lip was still quivering. Suddenly Zell was aware of a third presense. He turned and found Squall there. Rinoa looked between both of them.
"Don't tell me, you've had a fight with him haven't you?" Zell said, ignoring Squall completely. Rinoa nodded and buried her face back into her hands. Squall pretended to walk away and settled up on the wall, making Zell comfort her. He put his arms around her and she wept on his shoulder.
"I don't know why I said I what I did. It came out all wrong and I think I said something that hurt him and he wouldn't tell me and now I think he'd going to dump me for Quistis, they've always liked one another so much...." Rinoa continued to sob and Zell gently rubbed her back. Squall looked at Rinoa and then at Zell's helpless expression.
"Rinoa, I'm sure if you explained to him...."
"He walked out after he yelled at me, I just couldn't help it, I didn't know what I'd done so I yelled back and well, I don't think he'll listen to me anymore. The amount of times this has happened.....I wouldn't be really surprised if he did leave me. I mean I'm not exactly special to him......." Rinoa's voice trailed off under another siege of tears. Squall got down off the wall and touched her back gingerly. She looked at Zell and then pushed back to turn around. Squall sank down beside her and looked into her eyes.
"Hey." Squall said it softly and Zell watched Rinoa's eyes fill up again. Squall opened his arms and she sank into them, her tears falling again.
"I'll go." Zell said and Squall ignored him, his attention fixed on the crying girl on his shoulder, as she told him all the things she hadn't meant to say or do. Zell walked off once again and found Selphie walking after Irvine.
"Irvine, damn it stop!" Selphie grabbed the back of his coat. Irvine stopped and turned, looking down at her as he shifted his grip on his gun.
"What is it this time?"
"You never answered my question."
"You're question was stupid and insensitive."
"All I asked was if your gun meant more to you than me."
"Well, you should have known the answer to it without asking."
"Yeah, you'll always choose that gun over me."
"Well, obviously we aren't as close as I thought we were."
"Are you saying you'd have me over your gun?"
"If I had to lose one, I would lose my gun before I would let myself lose you again."
"Hey, guys, ease up, it's a great day today, go chill somewhere, don't argue." As much as Zell disliked Irvine, he couldn't stand to see Selphie's cheery face so clouded and down on herself. Irvine glared at him.
"Go meddle somewhere else Chicken-wuss, and this is your first and final warning." Irvine said. Zell knew he'd been lucky with Seifer and scampered off. He found Quistis sitting in the garden, obviously by herself by the way the bench was unoccupied.
"Hey, you alone?"
"Yeah, he's off somewhere." They both knew who she meant by he.
"So, you ok about before?"
"Yeah, but he's angrier than ever at you now, so I'd steer clear."
"I guess so, I shouldn't wish for too much luck with him." Zell said as he caught a glimpse of him heading towards them.
"I guess I'll be going." Zell walked off, worried then. He forgot the scene immediately when he saw Rinoa and Squall talking, actually more like Rinoa talking and Squall staring off into middle space. Zell walked past them as he looked at his watch. Hotdog time! He hurried down and ate quickly, as he watched the sun set and drop out of sight. He stood and headed to his room.
Zell started awake at the pounding on the door. He opened it and Seifer stood there grinning. This time, Zell didn't realise what hit him, only that one minute he was opening the door to Seifer and the next he was lying on a bed in the infirmary. Seifer appeared with his usual sneer planted widely on his lips.
"Every Chicken-Wuss has his day and you had yours yesterday....." Seifer's words died off into wicked laughter. Zell groaned and made to roll off the bed to find he was strapped down!