game; Kingdom Hearts II
pairing; Eventually Leon/Seifer
warnings; language, shonen-ai & perhaps yaoi, violence - it depends on how the story evolves.
disclaimer; I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters used.
Seifer could definitely think of more than one reasons to why he should construct a carefully planned escape route, start the Gummi Ship by force (if someone like Sora could get it up into the air, then how hard could it be?) and retreat to Twilight Town as fast as he possibly could.
But then again, doing that would most certainly be seen as an act of cowardiece on his behalf, and a coward was a word that he was not associated with in any context.So, he'd stay. Of course he would.
"What's with the sour face?" Yuffie teased him, attempting to ruffle his hair - thankfully, he was wearing his trademark-beanie which ended with her splayed fingertips pressed upon the worn-out material, and that made it easy to brush her hand off quite snappily, scowl perfectly in place like always.
Because no one touched Seifer Almasy without his personal permission.
"Having a bad day?" the ninja tried again, smile faltering if only the slightest, the nervous bouncing on the balls of her feet causing her short black hair to keep falling over her eyes at the motion.
"It's nothing", Seifer replied, and it wasn't. He didn't know himself why he was making such a big deal out of it.
Hold on, he wasn't! Not like he was some whining girl who bitched about a broken nail or anything.
"It's nothing!", he said, more firmly this time, as if to convince himself.
"Well, if it's about good ol' Leon, don't worry about it! He's always like that, but he means well, y'know? Besides, it's not like-"
"It sure as hell doesn't have anything to do with that stuck-up drama queen!" Seifer growled, effectively cutting the rambling girl off. She turned silent and watched him with wide eyes for a few moments, before-
"What're you getting so pumped up for, then?" she exclaimed innocently, breaking into a trimuphatic grin and marching off as if she just won a battle, careful to do it quick enough that the baffled thug couldn't chase after her if he, for some reason, decided to.
Seifer closed his eyes as if to collect himself. This was bad for his health, really. He wished he could just go beat the shit out of chickenwuss in a Struggle Battle or something, like he usually did when he was in desperate need of getting rid of his frustrations.
God, if only Fuu, Rai and Vivi were here. Of course they'd understand him; though, he'd rather die than having them know about the humiliation he was being subjected to - to actually think that their feared leader was being teased by some midget that seemed to be obsessed with samurai movies. It was just too much.
Besides, it was all that prissy pretty-boy's fault. Who did he think he was, anyway? And did he have a leather-kink or what?
The most irritating thing, though, was that the stoic man hadn't actually done anything. It was more of a.. well, feeling. And, yes, Seifer knew how goddamn stupid - not to mention girly - that sounded. But despite it all, it was true, and he couldn't very well ignore it, right?
Earlier that day, he had been introduced to all of them, but as soon as he had revealed his name to the stranger (quite cockily, but such was his nature, after all) the guy - Leon - got this really weird look in his eyes before they turned unreadable again. He had then tilted his head ever so slightly to the side and caught Aerith's gaze, his lips pressed tightly together.
It was as if some unspoken message that wasn't Seifer's to know passed between the two of them before he tore his metal-grey gaze from her and pierced Seifer with it instead.
Sparks. Electricity. Lighting.
It was the only things that came to the blonde's mind (embarrassing as it was to admit it, because honestly, doesn't that sound like some cheesy headline from a chick flick?) as they both engaged in some sort of glaring competition.
Seifer actually felt like those eyes were the slightest bit familiar - don't even go there - or at least that they were trying to tell him something, the look very meaningful and insistent.
And then, of course, a well-timed interruption ensued.
"Leon! Don't stare! Gosh, it's so rude!", Yuffie had tutted, shaking her head in a mock-motherly way. "Hey, what's up with guys staring each other down in that wannabe-badass way? Is it a sign of masculinity, or what?"
While Sora and Kairi were busy leading Yuffie onto another subject, everyone else helped themselves to the food; everyone except for that weird blonde guy, who had continued with watching Seifer behind those infuriating eyes of his.
"Watch your mouth, kid", Leon had muttered, obviously referring to Seifer's earlier comment concerning his age, "and the name's Leonhart."
"Leon Leonhart?" Seifer had inquired, remembering the name Yuffie had called him by before. He let a lazy smirk spread across his lips, giving the impression that he was completely uninterested in the answer. "Well that's a bit far-fetched."
Leon had glared at him, as if he intended to drive right through the blonde with the obvious fierceness of that glare.
"Yes", he replied curtly. And that was that.
Seifer had payed him no mind; he had just given Leon a scrutinizing look-over before snorting and pulling a chair out next to Hayner.
But the nagging feeling from before had stayed with him during the entire dinner, as if eyes were constantly on him, making his skin itch in all unpleasant ways imaginable.
And so that was it; the situation that had triggered the many unspoken questions plaguing the blonde. Well, it wasn't like him to dwell over things, and definitely not things so insignificant, but still. He couldn't explain it.
He didn't know why, but he had instantly felt some sort of hostility towards the older man, as if there was no way they could be anything but enemies. It didn't make sense at all.
"That expression doesn't suit you", came a melodic voice he sort-of recognized. The blonde turned around in the narrow hallway only to find Kairi there, a moss-green mug in her hand containing some hot beverage. She smiled friendly at him.
"What do you mean?" he asked, furrowing his brows.
"You look like you're thinking real hard", here, she paused for a light laugh, "you just don't seem like the type who'd do that."
He shrugged, not really knowing what to say. He'd never even spoken directly to the girl, as far as he recalled.
"Oh!" Kairi bit her lip thoughtfully. "I'm sorry. Did I offend you?"
Offend? What was the girl talking about? Seifer actually laughed. What a weird one.
"Nah. Why the hell would you do that?"
"Well, maybe.. it's not my place to say, is it? We don't know each other very well." She giggled, before offering him the mug. "It's hot chocolate. Aerith sent me to give it to you."
Seifer accepted it, frowning a bit.
"Thanks", he then awkwardly replied, taking a sip and letting the overwhelming rush of hot sweetness invade his mouth. It tasted good.
"You know", she continued, looking as if she was in no hurry to leave, "I really hope that you can become friends with everyone. You're not a bad guy."
"Do I come off that way?" he snickered sarcastically, knowing full well that he looked like some street thug that beat people up on a daily basis.
"Well, everyone else seems to like you, and I'm sure they'd love to get to know you more!" she chirruped, and no matter how hard he tried, Seifer couldn't really picture Riku or Cloud or Cid jumping up and down, just waiting for a chance to befriend him.
Of course, he didn't tell Kairi that. If she wanted to be so overly positive, then he would let her. He just shrugged.
"By the way - I mean, you don't have to answer, but, do you know Leon?"
Now that caught his attention. He tightened his hold on the mug, knuckles turning white.
"No", he said, voice flat.
"Really? I could've sworn that.. well, never mind. You don't like him?" she tilted her head to the side, as if honestly trying to understand how it was possible for the two of them to not like each other.
"It would seem that way, huh?" he replied with a humorless smirk, not really finding it enjoyable to be reminded of the only thing making this trip even more sour than it already was.
"He's not a bad person", Kairi mumbled, brushing some stray locks of wine-tinted hair behind her ear. "Sora told me. Apparently, something really awful happened to him in the past.. so he has a lot of trouble opening up to people. But he's always nice to Aerith and the others, and he's been taking care of this world.. I think Leon is really kind."
Seifer just watched the floor stubbornly as she smiled, some kind of burning feeling surging in his stomach before travelling upwards, trying to find its way up his dry throat. He shook his head, jaw clenching.
"I think", he eventually managed, "that I should go to bed now."
She nodded, "Yeah. See you tomorrow! We have a lot to do in the morning!"
Kairi flashed another smile and gave a small wave before rounding the corner and disappearing downstairs, skirt flowing about her matchstick-legs.
Seifer grunted, getting irritated again without any reason. There was something about that Leon Leonhart. Something undeniably important - he just knew it. It was like some far-off dream, or a fuzzy memory he almost recalled. Something about him that he should be aware of, and yet he wasn't.
Without even noticing, the mug slid out of the blonde's iron-grip and smashed into large pieces of dark green when it hit the floor, the chocolate pooling around it.
He swore under his breath, thinking that there wasn't even the slightest possibility that this day could get any worse as he started picking the shards up.
But then again, he hadn't noticed the tall figure leaning against the wall just around the corner, fingers pinching the bridge of said figure's nose in a out-of-habit sort of way.
Leon gritted his teeth, the scar on his face almost turning white from the frown his features had pulled into.
you know, this is the boring part. I can't tell you how many times I re-read this chapter and tried to change bits of it. thing is, I can't very well let parts like this just go by briefly explained. every good story has to be built up slooowly right? the Leon/Seifer action is coming, naturally, but it'll take a while.
:D
anyway, I still don't think very highly of this chapter, so the next one will be a hundred times better, promise! I have maany things in storage, so wait for them (well, those few of you who somehow found their way to this story).
take care, and I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve :) I sure did!