Splendor
By: fluffy pantoufle
Disclaimer: The following story is based off of the characters and universe created by Squaresoft. Furthermore, the plot is based very loosely off of "Splendor," a film by Gregg Araki.
Warning: Tentatively rated M for language and potential lemony goodness.
A/N: OK, so I have no idea whether or not I'm going to be cooking my own goose by attempting to work on two lengthy stories at once… But I've had the idea for this for SUCH a long time! I need to at least type out a prologue or something! And I think the notion of writing something playful while working on "Life Long Forgotten" makes for a good balance. Not only that, but I broke my ankle/foot last week! LAME. So writing this will be a fabulous way to keep my mind off of things while I heal.
It started out as a Squall/Rinoa/Zell… But then I decided that it would be too tame and quite frankly, a little boring. Plus, I just hate Squall and really would love to avoid writing his character as much as possible. The idea of this story being Seifer/Quistis/Zell then popped into my mind, and I decided that this particular trio would be so much more fun to work with. ^__^ I hope you think the same! Feedback is, as always, welcome with open arms!
Never in a million years would Quistis Trepe have thought that the sound of her own telephone ringing could be so excruciatingly painful. She winced at the shrill cry of a cellular device demanding to be answered and tried to bury her face even deeper into her pillow. Try as she might, the normally tolerable ring tone became a foghorn to her alcohol sodden ears and brain and for the millionth time, the instructor cursed Xu and Selphie for thoroughly saturating her senses with shot after burning shot.
Quistis knew that she had to lighten up a little bit - she was well aware of the fact that her work dominated a massive portion of her life. Most of her time was spent triple-checking papers she had graded or tutoring students after class. What little time she had to herself, the lovely young blonde spent doing leisure reading - however, what was leisurely for Quistis was considered arduous for everyone else.
Earlier in the week, Xu had accused her of growing old before her time. "Damn it, Quis, I feel like I'm going to have to pick up nursing home brochures for you the next time I travel to Winhill! I thought we were going to have to get one of those motorized scooters for Cid, but it seems to me that you'll be rolling around in one soon enough."
What Quistis wasn't aware of was the fact that "lightening up" for Xu involved taking one's liver to the bars and pubs of Deling City and utterly beating it into submission. She had never been a big drinker or partier, but relented to her best friend soon after she was handed a flyer for the Sorceress Festival. Ever since the fall of Ultimecia four years prior, Deling City held a week-long celebration to commemorate the triumph of the Fated Children - and humanity in general - over the malicious sorceress. What better way to honor the occasion than to be in a constant state of blackout for seven days?
As the cell phone rang, Quistis suddenly remembered that last double shot of curiously blue liquid that she took down with Xu, Selphie, Irvine, and Nida. Bad decision. The instructor was convinced whatever was in that particular shot glass was what did her in…of course, she strove to remember everything else she imbibed, but came up short.
With a groan, Quistis struggled to find her phone - she probably would have found it quicker if she actually bothered to open her eyes. All she wanted to do was end the incessant, ghastly ringing. When she felt it in her hand, she pushed the "send" button, not bothering to check who was calling. "Uh…can I help…you? This is…Trepe. Quistis. Ugh." Instead of pressing the phone to her ear, Quistis was instead laying the side of her face on the phone and hoped that it was close enough for her to hear the voice on the other end. "What do you want?"
"Quisty? Hyne, you sound like shit." Xu laughed from the other side of the line. "I'm just glad that you're alive! Selphie's been out looking for you all morning. Where are you?"
"Good question." Quistis took a moment to ponder that query before her glacially blue eyes fluttered open in alarm. She should have been in the room that she was sharing with Xu and Selphie in the Galdabia Hotel. What she thought was her bed was, in actuality, the unyielding sofa of another room in the same building. As she sat up and tried to get her bearings, Quistis felt an unbearable pounding in her head. Her stomach lurched and its contents almost found their way onto the hideously lavender shag carpet. With the carpet and the gaudy yellowish wallpaper, Quistis would have thought that she was in a nursery from Hell. However, the bottles that were strewn throughout the place suggested that this room belonged to anyone but a baby - unless that baby happened to overindulge in the brandy that was meant only for their teething.
"I wish I knew."
The instructor could hear her friend sigh and begin to rummage though something - presumably her suitcase. "Damn it. OK. Find out where you are, and call me back. Don't make me have to come and find you - I left my gun at Garden."
"I'll be fine, Xu. I think I'm just…in another room."
"Why?"
Quistis shrugged, then realized that Xu wouldn't have seen her gesture. She tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear and exhaled. "Hyne, I don't know. Maybe if you hadn't fed me all those shots I'd have an adequate answer."
Xu scoffed. "Oh, please. You loved it. You only told me at least sixty-eight times how much fun you were having…even after we got kicked out of that one bar for dancing on the tables."
"…what?"
Click. Xu could be such a bitch sometimes.
Quistis dropped the phone onto the couch cushion and placed her hands on her head, exasperated. Why the hell was she in a room other than her own? And on the couch, no less? She heard quiet breathing coming from the bedroom and decided to check it out, but first wanted to survey her own damage. Staggering to her feet, the blonde made her way to the full length mirror against the wall.
"Oh, sweet heavens."
To call Quistis merely "hung-over" would have been the understatement of the century. Her long hair had at one point been pulled up in a loose and messy, but extremely calculated hairdo. Now, her bangs and the left side of her coif had been roughly pulled out of the bun, giving her the exceptionally alluring appearance of a bag lady. Her smoky eyes and red lipstick were smeared every which way across her face. The leftover mascara was imprinted on the lower portion of her right eye; Quistis mused that she looked rather like a raccoon. She let out a breathy laugh as she rubbed off the body glitter that Selphie had insisted everyone put on…why it was now concentrated on her forehead, Quistis didn't know.
The most disconcerting aspect of her current get-up was the fact that her outfit was…well, half of it was on the other side of the room. Her skirt was on backwards, and her top was mysteriously strewn on the floor, next to the coffee table. She flushed crimson, even though no one was watching, and ran to get her shirt. Running, however, turned into stumbling - clearly, Quistis was going to be taking it very slow today.
A sudden flushing of the toilet made Quistis's insides jolt. For the life of her, she couldn't remember who she was currently sharing this room with. She fought valiantly with her top, trying to put it on and soon remembering that she borrowed this intricately designed number from Rinoa. What she thought were sleeves weren't sleeves and were rather just strategically placed slits in the bodice of the top.
"…Quisty, are you all right?" It was a soft, familiar male voice that questioned her from the other side of the room.
She must have been one funny sight to behold. The instructor managed to get her head through the shirt, but had her arms twisted through the fabric like an intoxicated pretzel. It wasn't until the mystery man came over and helped her to remove her arms from their confines that she took a good look at his face. His expression was worried, but quickly became amused when he deduced that she was simply hung-over.
"Zell."
He winked. "In the flesh."
Quistis took a moment to step back and take him in. He stood an inch shorter than her, but Zell Dincht had an incredible body to compensate for his lack of vertical prowess. Every last bit of him was toned, defined, and positively delightful. She scolded herself for thinking of one of her childhood friends in such a manner, but it was undeniable: Zell was hot.
"I, um…I was wondering if you could tell me…" She laughed, thinking about how ridiculous she must have sounded. "…do you know what happened last night?"
Zell raised an eyebrow before chuckling himself. "I was hoping you could tell me the same thing, Quis…although I think I kind of have an idea as to what went down."
"What?"
Oh, this kept getting better and better. Quistis didn't realize it at first, but as her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed the red marks that adorned Zell's chest and torso…red marks that, conveniently enough, matched the shade of lipstick she was currently wearing. She followed the faded path of crimson, lip-shaped marks with her eyes until they found themselves dangerously close to the waistband of his shorts. Not only that, but Quistis also discovered where the rest of her body glitter had gone to…
He could read the expression on her face, and the martial artist immediately outstretched his arms to her. "Don't panic, Quisty - I mean, I don't really remember what happened either! I really don't think I shoulda been doing shots with Selphie…she's absolutely insane! We could just talk about-"
She lifted a single finger, signaling for him to be quiet. "It's all right, Zell. I just need time to figure out what exactly happened here, that's all."
The blonde boy shrugged. "I think it's pretty damn obvious what happened here, if you ask me. I just wish I could recall it…must've been amazing."
Quistis could feel the heat in her cheeks and was about to say something, but just at that moment…the bed creaked. Four azure colored eyes widened in shock - who the hell else would be in the room? The instructor could see Zell as he mouthed: "I thought you were still in bed." She shook her head and pointed to the couch.
"Fucking headache," the voice muttered to no one in particular. This one sounded deeper and notably huskier than Zell's, although that could have been simply a product of the hang-over he must have been feeling. Quistis and Zell froze when they heard two feet hit the ground and head for the doorway. Zell turned around to face the man, and what he and Quistis saw left them both reeling. "…Chicken-Wuss? What the fuck are you doing in my room?"
"I thought…I thought…" The younger blonde stammered, trying to find an adequate excuse. "Shit. I don't know."
"Seifer, what in Hyne's name is going on?" Quistis placed her hands on her hips and for a moment, forgot that she was standing in front of the two men clad only in her bra and a skirt. When she saw that the same red marks that decorated Zell's body could be found on Seifer's throat and cheek, however, the young woman felt her stomach do another loop-de-loop.
"Instructor?" Seifer looked Quistis up and down before nodding approvingly. "The morning after look suits you. Maybe if you exchanged your SeeD uniform for that get-up, less students would fall asleep in your classes."
"Show a little goddamn respect, Almasy," Zell mumbled.
"Excuse me, Dincht?" Seifer questioned the smaller blonde. "I don't remember asking you anything other than why the hell you're standing here in your fucking underwear. A little queer, don't you think?"
Seifer obviously meant the word to have double meaning and successfully insulted Zell. The martial artist rose to the occasion and began to head towards his nemesis. "Who do you think you're talking to? You shouldn't even be here! This festival is for celebrating the fact that we whupped your sorry ass!"
"Fucking Chicken-Wuss!"
"Filthy Lapdog!"
"STOP IT!" Quistis suddenly shouted over the noise, rubbing her temples. "Aren't you two a little too hung-over for this? I know I am…" She moved over to the couch and plopped down, inhaling deeply. "Grow up. It was four fucking years ago."
Both young men seethed and stared at each other, fists clenched. It wasn't until several seconds later that Zell noticed the lipstick that covered Seifer's face…conveniently enough, the same lipstick that festooned his chest, abs, and, well…perhaps several other regions that shouldn't be mentioned at the moment. Seifer noticed it too, because his were the first two fists that seemed to relax. His emerald eyes found their way to Quistis, who was leaned back, eyes closed.
"Who in Hyne's name mixed our drinks last night?" Seifer queried. "I can't remember a thing."
Zell shrugged; he was still apprehensive to accept the fact that the gunbladist had seemingly calmed down a bit. "Me neither."
"I'll bet that faithful Instructor Trepe took painstakingly accurate notes as to what happened though, am I correct? A diagram or two? Flow chart?" The former knight smirked, hoping to get a rise out of Quistis. When he failed, he crossed his arms across his chest. "This is the part where you're supposed to insult me…you know, generally call me a bastard and a poor student. Maybe insult my past choices or shoot down my future hopes."
"Seifer, I don't know what happened."
"…oh."
Zell sat down next to Quistis on the couch. "I'm never, ever drinking again. Every year I black out at this stupid festival."
"Don't be such a wimp, Dincht."
The martial artist was about to retort, but Quistis placed a hand on his shoulder, never once opening her eyes. "Please, do me a favor. Control yourselves, even if just for this morning."
"Afternoon," Seifer corrected. "It's about three thirty."
"What?!" Quistis and Zell both cried. Instead of responding, Seifer headed for the nearest bottle of alcohol and picked it up, evaluating its contents. He took a swig and winced slightly as he swallowed before handing the bottle to Zell. "What the hell is this?" Zell inquired hotly.
"Just shut the fuck up and drink it," Seifer said. "Hair of the dog."
Zell lifted the bottle to eye level and swirled the liquid before raising it to his lips. He took a hearty sip and handed it to Quistis, who waved it away. She was trying desperately to recreate the previous night's events in her mind, but to no avail. While all the evidence was standing right in front of her - in partially nude glory, no less - Quistis refused to believe the obvious. How could it have happened? These two men hated each other since youth! No way…no way in hell.
Xu had a lot of explaining to do.
A/N: So...maybe a cross between Splendor and The Hangover? Hah! Time will tell what happens to our most lovable trio of blondes! ^__^
