Title: Repairs
Author: Traxits
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII.
Pairing: Irvine/Selphie discussed.
Rating: K.
Content Notes: None.
Word Count: 1264 words.
Request: Any characters. 'Finishing each other's sentences,' though not necessarily literally. The characters are engaged in a fairly involved task (sex is too obvious, but anything from disarming a bomb to baking a cake is fair game), but the conversation isn't about that activity. The real essence is exploring the relationship of the characters and how their familiarity shines through the conversation. Inside jokes and shared assumptions, mutual history and the lack of need for explanation.
Summary: Zell and Irvine repair Garden cars while Zell attempts to repair Irvine's foolish mistake with Selphie.
Author's Note(s): Written for selryel of the Final Fantasy Exchange community on Livejournal/Dreamwidth/Archive of Our Own.
[[ ... One-Shot ... ]]
"What do you mean, she said 'no?'" Zell shot a look out from under the car, his eyes narrowing at the cowboy leaning so casually against the drawers near the door. It was a deceptive lean, leaning without actually putting any weight on what he was touching. The drawers had wheels, and if Irvine was actually leaning against them, they'd have long since rolled right out from under him. Irvine didn't seem to notice.
"She said 'no.' She said she didn't want to take a ride on the T-board. I told you she wouldn't go for that." Irvine looked vaguely amused for a moment before he abandoned both his jacket and the hat to kneel over by Zell. He didn't even look, just reached under the car and held the part that Zell was struggling to keep still. Gratefully, Zell took advantage of the moment to tighten up a bolt.
"Girls always go for the T-board. I figured Selphie especially-"
"Well, she didn't. Got any more bright ideas?" Irvine scowled as something leaked out of the car and over his hands. Finally unable to stand it, he shoved Zell over to the side and just joined him, both laying on their backs and looking up at the belly of the machine over their heads. He took the wrench out of Zell's hands and started loosening the very part Zell had been fighting with. Zell just sighed and let him do it.
Garden cars had a mind of their own, it seemed.
"Well, what about taking her out to eat? Didn't that new place-"
"Right, the Deling style place-"
"- just opened in Balamb." Zell grinned, and they exchanged the moment together before Irvine turned his attention back to the car. Zell pushed him back out of the way, taking over once more. "Ma says it's nice."
"Like I'd trust a guy who takes dinner ideas from his mother." Irvine's taunt was good-natured though; he loved Ma Dincht just as much as the rest of them did. Zell knew that from the fact that Irvine, like everyone else, also wrote letters to her, keeping her apprised of his whereabouts. She seemed to have unofficially adopted all of them.
"Yeah, well, it's got to be better than the hot dog idea, right?" Zell gritted his teeth as Irvine held another part for him, and when they finally managed to get it off of the car, they exchanged another set of grins. Car number three was finally bowing to their prowess, despite however long it had been since it had been serviced.
"How was I supposed to know that it would be that bad? I thought she liked the hot dogs," Irvine grumbled after a minute, reaching up to wipe his forehead and leaving a smear of grease behind. Zell wondered how long it would take before the cowboy noticed it.
"Maybe she does, but not twenty of them at once, Irvine. Even I know that."
Irvine snorted, but he didn't move further, just lay there and watched as Zell worked some more, holding and moving other parts as necessary. Finally unable to stand it, he asked, "Do you really think the hot dogs were a bad idea?" Zell looked over at Irvine, one eyebrow arched. Irvine sighed, nodding slowly. "Yeah, it was pretty bad, wasn't it?"
"Irvine, I've never seen Selphie so mad. She. Threw. Your. Hat." Zell looked back to the car, scooting forward to get out from under it. Irvine followed him, popping the hood without being told. Zell leaned over it, reaching in and checking connections idly. "I mean, she even cried to Quistis about it."
"You'd never guess a simple date to be so important," Irvine sighed, leaning against the hood as he watched Zell work.
"Your anniversary, idiot," Zell shot back, glancing over at the cowboy. "For such a sharp shooter, you sure do miss a lot." He reached in, and when the valve popped off of the block, he swore. Irvine reached in and caught the wriggling hose, ignoring how much it must have hurt.
"It's just a day," he muttered, and Zell pulled the hose back from him to reconnect it, studying the hose critically. Irvine reached over and pulled the bright red cabinet over to them, opening drawers until he found a new hose to replace it. Zell plucked that from his fingers happily and set to work, discarding the old hose without a thought.
"It's important to her though, Irvine. That's the key. How do you not know this?" Zell scowled as he worked, his fingers beginning to get slick with substances from the engine. Irvine shoved a towel into his hands, and he wiped off his fingers before resuming his movements, carefully attaching the hose. "Is that playboy image just for show?"
Irvine stilled before he snatched the towel back and wiped his own hands. "How is it that you know so much about it all? A little in touch with your feelings?"
Zell snorted, then laughed, looking up at Irvine, one eyebrow raised again. "Really, Irvine? That's the best you can do?" He laughed helplessly, having to struggle to keep upright and not double over at the indignant expression on the cowboy's face. "I lived with Seifer for most of my life in the Garden here. 'In touch with my feelings' is the best you have?"
A moment, and then Irvine was biting back a grin that still touched his eyes. "Yeah, well. I never claimed to have his caustic wit, did I?" He reached up to tug on his ponytail- making sure it was still there?- and then he shrugged. "So you think dinner will fix this?"
"Oh, hell no. But it will help." Zell returned to the car, chuckling softly under his breath. Irvine pretended not to notice, leaning over Zell's shoulder as he helped out still, holding hoses and parts out of the way so that Zell could see under them.
"That Deling style place will do?"
"It's a start. Flowers, too." Zell finished off the engine with a sigh, and he reached for the towel in Irvine's hands. He wiped both of his hands before he reached up to push his hair back from his face- the sweat had it slowly sagging down. Irvine watched him so carefully, that Zell threw the towel back at him, catching him in the face. "And chocolate. Selphie likes the little chocolate cherry things."
Irvine sighed, tossing the towel over the cabinet before he fake-leaned against it again. "You think? All of that?"
Zell raised an eyebrow once more, shrugging as he turned to leave. One. "She'll love it." Two. "After all, her Irvy thought of it all on his own, right?" And-
CRASH.
Zell grinned as he turned back to look at the cowboy, who must have leaned too firmly against the cabinet. He was sprawled out over the floor, staring up at Zell. Slowly, Zell reached over and picked up Irvine's hat. He caressed the brim of it with careful fingers, very aware of the expression Irvine was wearing.
"She likes you to be thoughtful, Irvy," Zell finally said, grinning widely at the red color on Irvine's face. He tossed the hat to the cowboy, and he was delighted when it hit him in the chest, the brim slapping lightly on Irvine's chin. "Right?"