Articles of Questionable Virtue
by Ky

Summary: Amidst the concern and turmoil aboard the White SeeD Ship, Zone's quirks give Quistis a reason to smile.
Genre: Humor/Romance
Rating: PG
Warnings: I think the title and summary say it all.
Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy VIII, and the characters of Quistis and Zone. I don't make this stuff up!

Notes: I can't believe this. After almost 3 months of not writing anything, what do I end up writing? Not AkuRoku, like I'd planned. No, I end up writing another pairing that nobody cares about. Go me! This fic takes place during Disc 3 on the White SeeD Ship, after Squall's talked to Zone. It assumes that Quistis wasn't in the party during that exchange.

Quistis leaned against the railing of the White SeeD Ship, staring at the ocean. Ellone was out there, and they could only hope she would be able to help Rinoa… And after that, there was the worry of who the Sorceress' power would be passed onto…

The former instructor sighed. She was beginning to miss the days when her biggest worries were grading papers and controlling unruly students. She was eighteen, barely an adult, and it had been her job to instruct kids her own age about what to do when disaster struck. Now, reality had set in and it was her turn to face these situations. She wasn't a teenager anymore, with that false sense of invincibility she had seen in her students and even, sometimes, in her own party. She was an adult. She had to be calm and mature, and that wasn't as easy as it sounded.

But looking out at this vast ocean, with the sea breeze ruffling her strawberry-blonde hair, she could almost imagine that there was hope out there. Hope for Rinoa, for Ellone, Squall, and then… for the future.

"It's relaxing, isn't it?" a young man commented, coming to stand against the railing, next to her. "The ocean, I mean. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it."

Quistis turned to look at him. "Zone?"

"Yeah. It's… nice to meet you again, Quistis."

"I never did get to thank you properly for that train ticket, back in Timber," she replied. It really means a lot to me that you would give up traveling with Rinoa so…"

"No, no, it was nothing," Zone responded. His voice had a nervous edge to it. "Thank you for taking care of her. Rinoa's like a little sister to me, and I know… I know you guys will take good care of her." He glanced downward at the deck of the White SeeD Ship. "She'll…She'll be okay."

Quistis nodded. "Mm-hm. She will. Squall will make sure of it."

"He's a good guy, Squall. Might act like a jerk, but he really cares," Zone replied. "Wouldn't have let Rinoa go with him if I didn't think that." He looked up to meet Quistis' eyes. "I didn't know you wore glasses."

She self-conciously adjusted the position of her wire frames. "Yes. Mostly I wear contacts…"

It had been a long day, and her eyes were hurting, so she'd swapped her contacts for her glasses before wandering outside to muse. Glasses got in the way during a fight. And besides, they made her look like such a dork! Glasses were fine for an instructor, but as a SeeD? Who was going to listen to a skinny, blonde, bespectacled mercenary, even if she was wielding a whip with a spiked end?

"They look… good on you…" Zone muttered. "I've always liked girls with glasses." He shifted nervously, and Quistis caught sight of the cover of the magazine that he held under his arm. It showed an illustration of a blushing, full-figured woman wearing round glasses and a shirt that was half-unbuttoned. The title read in pink bubble letters, "Girl Next Door."

Quistis felt her face flush as she made mental associations. She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or disgusted. Why was she associated with this guy's pornographic fantasies?!

Zone followed her gaze and, when he knew that she knew, turned a brilliant shade of red and almost threw the magazine in the air in an attempt to get it out of his sight. "Err, um, it's not… I didn't mean…Don't know how that got there…Forgot I had it… err… Ugh… My stomach!"

As he doubled over, feigning the stomachache that was his excuse out of everything, Quistis couldn't help but smile. Zone had a good heart, and after all, that was what mattered.