DISCLAIMER
Of course, I don't own FF8 or any of the characters, but wouldn't that be hardcore if I did? Anyhoo, there's a story in the works here and I want a few reviews before I continue to see if anyone likes it. Anybody who has a problem with guys who like guys should just click 'back' right now. Okay? For the rest of us who are left, I hope you enjoy…
Outcast
His eyes were sorrowful and the veil of the egotistical megalomaniac had been lifted for perhaps the first time since he was a child. Now when he spoke, his words no longer had the cockiness behind them that everyone had come to expect. He looked like a defeated man when it came down to it. He no longer wore his famous smirk, nor did he spit the venomous insults that everyone had grown accustomed to.
This was wrong.
He was tuned down and no one could find the reason. The only part of his former self that remained was his unwillingness to talk about his problems.
No matter how much people tried to pry into his sorrow, he always managed to push them away.
The incessant midnight excursions to the Training Center were becoming quite annoying to his roommate. He would stumble in loudly, a couple hours after leaving, covered in blood, making the whole room smell like a battle.
Finally, the brunette who shared the quarters with him was fed up with his withholding of his feelings and his secrecy.
"What's going on?" He asked to the darkness one night after Seifer had returned from fighting, and was laying in his own bed on the other side of the room.
"What are you talking about?" The blonde's husky voice asked back.
"Look," His roommate responded, "It took us a really long time to become friends, but…I think of you as my best friend, Seifer, and I don't want you to keep things from me. I've told you everything that I have to tell, but here you are, all broody and just…acting weird."
Seifer chuckled bitterly in the dark.
"What is it?" Squall asked.
The blonde laughed dryly again.
"How do you do it?" He asked simply.
"Do what?" Squall asked.
"Just not care what everyone thinks about you. I mean, when you broke it off with Rinoa and finally came out and told everyone you were gay, you never looked back. You came out with who you are and you really didn't care what anyone thought about it. I just wish I could be like that."
A moment of silence fell upon the two friends.
"Who said I didn't care?" Squall asked.
"I just always assumed…"
"I do care, Seifer. No one wants to look up to someone who you can't help but look down at. I'm not a leader anymore…I never thought I wanted it, but now that I know I can never have it again, I kinda miss it. I mean, everyone was a lot more accepting than I thought they would be, but there's always those underclassmen and the other people who just don't understand. In that instance, you're right in assuming that I don't care. If people don't mean anything to me, then I really could care less what they think…Where's all this coming from, anyway? Since when do you care what people think about you?"
"Just forget it…"
Another long silence collapsed on the harshly and Squall thanked the dark silently. He was glad his roommate couldn't see his face while it reddened as he talked.
"I never thought you'd be able to share a dorm with a gay guy…" He said, his cheeks feeling like they were on fire.
"Why would it be a problem?"
"Well, I didn't even think…I don't know…you just seem like kind of homophobic...Everyone took it as a real shock when I came out, but you didn't even seem phased." The brunette laughed, "It's almost like it took me coming out of the closet to put our differences aside."
The blonde joined in on the laughter.
"No…" He disagreed, "It just took you realizing what it felt like to be an outcast, I think."
The stony silence was back and Squall fell asleep, contemplating on the truth of Seifer's statement.
When he woke in the morning, he realized that he didn't even get an answer out of Seifer. He didn't eve find out what was bothering him.
The next time he asked him, he wouldn't let Seifer change the subject like that.
They just knew each other too well…All the years of senseless rivalry ultimately just brought them closer in the long run.
When Squall left Rinoa, she moved back in with General Caraway, turning her back on Garden, which led Squall to believe that Rinoa wasn't in it for the cause, she was only in it for him.
For some reason he couldn't quite identify, that made him lose respect for her.
Now, it was like he had almost everything he wanted. Almost. He had a small group of accepting friends, he was active in the SeeD cause, and his best friend was like a soul mate to him.
These days, Squall was a lot more upbeat than he used to be, but his usually carefree roommate was burdened with an unnamed problem.
And it was up to Squall to find out what that problem was.
