Crazy in Love
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters. I simply own the characters that I created, Ceri.
A/N: Story takes place after the game, assuming that Seifer has been back at the garden permanently for some time now.
Inspired by an article in Psychology Today titled "You're Driving Me Crazy! – 10 Relationship Headaches & How to Fix them" in their March/April 2009 issue. This piece will revolve around the 10 annoyances that was mentioned.
Please be kind!
1 – "It's Deliberate"
It was one of those rare lazy Sunday afternoons where Seifer and Ceri could just sit on the couch and watch TV in her dorm. He had his arms wrapped around her waist and leaned back against the couch like she was doing to him. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and said, "I'm going to get a drink, want anything?"
"Umm," paused Ceri. "Coke would be nice. Thank you!" she called after him and heard his light laughter. Ceri looked at his retreating figure for a few more moments and turned back to the screen.
Wait…Her body froze. What did he say he was getting? She quickly moved towards the kitchen and asked wearily, "Seifer, what did you say you were getting?"
"Soda," came the blunt reply.
Ceri stepped into the kitchen and saw that there were no cups on the counter. "Seifer, where is your…Seifer!" cried Ceri when she saw him in front of the refrigerator door.
"What?" he asked and stopped his arm that was holding an opened soda bottle in midair.
"No, Seifer! Don't drink!"
"Why? Is something wrong with it?" Seifer questioned and raised his eyebrows.
"No, but…Noo!!" Ceri said as she watched Seifer drink large gulps of soda straight out of the bottle, his lips fully touching its opening.
"What are you doing? Stop!" she tried to command and pulled at his arm.
"What?"
"Don't drink out of the bottle! How am I supposed to drink from it now?"
"Here," Seifer replied while handing her the Coke.
Ceri pushed the bottle away and groaned. "I told you that I wanted you to use a cup. This is dirty! And you don't finish the whole bottle either! I don't want your germs."
"You kiss me, don't you?" he asked and moved to put his arms around her.
"That's different!" she said, backing away from him. "You do this on purpose! You want to steal my sodas!"
"Peaches," Seifer started exasperatedly.
"No, no, no. You know that it bothers me, and I've told you why. I'm sure you don't do this to Rinoa or Quistis or something. I just don't see why…" Ceri continued to talk but more seemingly to herself rather than at Seifer. She started picking at her lips and felt around for dry skin to peel, a nervous habit she developed a few years back.
Seifer placed the soda on the table and approached her softly. "Now, Peachie, what did I say about touching your lips? It bugs me, and it's not good for you, remember?" He placed his hands on the counter behind her with his arms brushing against her sides, successfully trapping her with his body, and used his fingers to pry her little ones away from her lips.
"I know that…it's just hard," Ceri said weakly, slightly taken aback by their positions and his stare.
"Hmm…I better do something about that then, huh?" he hummed lowly and leaned in to take her lips with his.
It started as a soft kiss until she pressed harder back against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. As soon as she made a sound of satisfaction, he pulled back. A soft groan of protest quickly followed.
Seifer gave a small chuckle and placed alight kiss on her nose. "Now, do I get something like that to help me break my 'annoying' habits?"
"Maybe…" She smiled and trailed off as she pulled him back down for another kiss. He felt her growing smile and gave her a quick peck on her forehead.
"How 'bout I get you some apple juice? In a cup?" he asked her.
Ceri nodded her head and said, "Okay." She remained leaning against the counter as she waited for him.
"Here you go. I'm going to put on a movie," he told her quickly and left the kitchen with his soda after giving her another small kiss on the cheek.
She nodded again and kept her eyes on her cup of apple juice. Something isn't right…She moved the cup lightly, making the liquid inside swirl in little circles. Is that…Oh Hyne. It is. There were tiny food particles floating around in her apple juice!
"Arghh," Ceri let out an angry growl. "Seifer!!!"
All that was heard in her dorm was the sound of Seifer laughing hysterically at her frustration as a reply.
"We take every irritant personally. When we don't get what we want, we interpret it as, 'You don't love me enough.' We think, 'If you really cared about me, you'd stop driving me crazy with all your irritating habits. Unfortunately, much behavior is mindless; we do many things without thinking."
– Petty Annoyance #1 "It's Deliberate" (Psychology Today, March/April 2009)