Chapter 3 – Euphoria

AN: I am still completely embarrassed for the mess in the last chapter, so I hope I make it up with some hilarious buttsex! Haha, this chapter is extra long (or, let´s say the others were super short, cause this is more my style here), but it fits better this way. You´ll see.

Have fun!


Balamb was just perfect in the summer. It was warm, but not too hot, there were tourists but they weren´t annoying and what made it incomparably better than Timber was the wind. The air always smelled good, even in the middle of the city. Zell had a hard time imagining why he ever moved away from here, but when Seifer had asked him it just clicked. There hadn´t been any reason to stay. He could just as well move back.

Funny enough he never saw him again. He thought about texting him, but that whole encounter during the worlds had been so surreal. He couldn´t quite tell but he guessed that Seifer had seen him at his lowest enabled Zell to act like… an ass. It was a pity, somehow, he had already planned what he would do should he come to Timber, probably miserable after seeing Rinoa. They would get something to eat and chat a bit and he would be there for him and then they would fuck and it would make up for having been a jerk. Although there hadn´t been all that much of an objection.

Sighing, he walked past a bunch of fishers on the docks. A few meters down the road was a tiny shop that he loved, best food in town, though it wasn´t very well known. Good for him, he liked the exclusiveness of the place. He greeted some of the people he knew, some were tourist, some…

"Are you kidding me?" There he was. Barely recognized him, with the huge sunglasses and the fishing rod. And the tan. But the short blonde hair and did he see an infinity sign? Shaking his head, Zell walked over. That had to be destiny, seriously.

"Hey, what a coincidence! Who would´ve thought we would…" He didn´t even look up. Didn´t he remember him? Did he ignore him on purpose? It was already half a year ago, he couldn´t…!

"Hey!" He touched his arm and Seifer almost threw his rod away, screaming.

"The fuck! You want to give me a heart attack you jerk!" He ripped his earbuds out, face flushed. Rather cute.

"Oh, oops. Thought you… ehm… Seifer, remember me?"

Seifer straightened, putting his headphones away and getting his spot in order again. "How could I forget a face that, ah, remarkable?"

And here they were again. Zell had already decided to just be polite, say something about the weather and get the hell away. He should´ve just ignored him anyway.

"Haha, right. What a coincidence! Isn´t the weather nice here? The best thing about Balamb. Sorry to have bothered you, have a nice stay!"

He made a step back, waiting for Seifer to say something. He stared at him for a really long time.

"Are you on drugs? I´m not on duty here but I will not hesitate to accompany you to the next police station."

"What?" Seriously? How was that guy a cop if he couldn´t even read an awkward situation! "I´m not… I was on my way to… you know what, forget that you saw me, have fun with that." He gestured in the general direction of the sea.

Seifer leaned back in his chair, exhaling loudly. "That´s funny, meeting you here. Weren´t you living in Timber, sulking after the lost boyfriend?"

Zell felt his teeth grinding against each other. He should just go. "And what are you doing here? Timber is a shit place and I am from here, I don´t need to justify myself!"

"I´m on holiday." He grinned. He had the audacity to grin! Zell ignored the heat on his face and quickly walked away. There was no reason he should ruin his day with this!

Half an hour later he had finished his shopping and was blocking the sun from Seifer´s view. At least he looked up.

"Hey asshole, you wanna get drunk? There´s this bar down the street. At 9?"

Seifer raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Zell interpreted it as yes and quickly walked home before more stupidity left his mouth.


Seifer was already there when he arrived. This wouldn´t end well, they were obviously both unable to make intelligent decisions when near each other, but then again… who cares. Intelligent decisions hadn´t brought him anywhere, might as well try something else.

"So holiday? Hadn´t thought the big bad cop was into fishing."

Seifer looked up, grinning. "What can I say, I`m an old guy at heart."

"Right right." He ordered a beer, trying to think of a good reason to be there. There were none. "You didn´t call when you were in Timber."

"Didn´t feel like it. I´m not really into one night stands."

"Serious relationships did turn out so nicely for you, right?" Zell wanted to slap himself. It´s not as if he did fuck around, but being near Seifer just brought out the worst in him. Seifer laughed dryly and ordered another beer. Or maybe he shouldn´t worry too much.

"Rinoa´s pregnant. Was quite fast."

Yes, it was. So that was what Squall had been after. "What´s there to wait for, eh? I guess."

"How old are you anyway? Not that I´m accidentally molesting a child."

"Shut up, I´m 23." Maybe didn´t look like it. Seifer hadn´t seemed to be concerned about it anyway. "And you?"

"28." He finished his glass, ordering another one. Zell hadn´t expected him to be so serious about getting drunk. "So you still wanna get it on? We both talked so much around it I feel like we already have an affair going on."

Zell looked at him confused. Tried to sort out his thoughts. Nodded. It didn't matter.


They stumbled through Zell´s apartment door, crashing into the drawer right behind it. Zell barely felt it, his brain tried to focus on the tongue in his mouth and the keys that were still stuck in the door and…

"Hold on a sec, just…" He closed the door, kicked off his shoes. "Okay, go on."

"Should I…" Seifer gestured at his feet.

"Ah yes, please. I don´t want stains on my carpet." Seifer fumbled with his laces, he was obviously more buzzed than Zell. He wondered how much sooner he had been at that bar. The moment he was done he almost stumbled over his own feet when he got up too quickly, but got a grip on the drawer at the last second.

"Maybe we should leave it for tomorrow, I don´t want to take advantage of you…"

"Oh god, my balance is a bit off but I can make decisions just fine. I consent to sex. You happy now?"

Zell bit his lip, not sure if that was morally justifiable, but Seifer decided to put an end to it, grabbed him and shoved him through the first door he encountered.

"Hey, wait, that´s just my living room!"

"So what, you should fit fine on a couch you midget." To prove it he got down on it, making Zell sit on his lap while he immediately continued where he had stopped. Sucking on Zell´s face.

"I don´t want hickeys…"

"Too late I´m afraid. Who´s gonna care?" He licked deeper, tugged on Zell´s T-shirt. He didn´t object when Seifer pulled it over his head. "Now look at that…"

"I´ve got training… what?" Zell looked down, seeing Seifer inspecting his chest with curious eyes. Right. You´ve got more stupid tattoos?

"I like this one." Seifer circled the wings right under his pecs before he leaned forward, licking over it. Zell bit his lip, he didn´t want to moan, the walls weren´t very good in the building. "And this one is great." Seifer leaned forward, inspecting the full sleeve on Zell´s right arm. "Somehow everything is better than that thing on your face."

"Oh shut it, infinity tattoo my ass." Seifer grinned, trying to get deeper down Zell´s chest. "Got something on your dick? I´d like to know." He pulled on the waistband of Zell´s trousers, opening it. Couldn´t be all that drunk. "Oh, a natural blond after all."

"What? Of course I am!" Seifer grinned, shoving him to the side so he could get better access. He pulled on Zell´s pants some more, but gave up quickly and just got down on Zell. The whole length.

"Fuck! Can´t you… warn…" Zell bit his hand, cursing silently. And here he had thought Seifer was just a confused straight guy, and now he sucked cock like a pro. "You´re not gonna vomit on me, are you? Drunk asshole…" Seifer looked up when he got down deep enough to touch Zell´s pubic hair with his nose. Zell wanted to kill him, but it felt way too good to stop any time soon. Seifer got off, licking the whole length again before he jerked him off a bit.

"You assumed I was a slut, happy now?"

Zell was breathing heavily, thoughts weren´t forming very well in his head. "I got carried away. You were stalking me. Didn´t think… ah… you´d take it seriously."

"Hmmm." Seifer got up, finally pulling his shirt off. There were tan lines from the time on the docks, and some less distinct one´s from some time on the beach probably. "What´s with the necklace?"

"What´s with your hair, you look like a misshapen bird."

Zell rolled his eyes while he struggled out of his pants. Fine, he didn´t want to talk about it. Probably a gift from Rinoa anyway. Seifer looked curious at the tribals on Zell´s calves. "You´re not gonna lick my legs. I swear I´m gonna kick you out!"

"Nah, too hairy. You´ve got something on your back as well? I can… look at it while I fuck you."

Zell´s eyes narrowed. That was not going to happen!

"Wait a second, I won´t bottom. Ever." Zell sat up to emphasize his point.

"You can forget that. I haven´t bottomed in ages." Seifer looked equally determined. Well.

"Listen Seifer, I´m just as fine to suck some dick and be done with it. Equally satisfying. So?"

Seifer thought about it for a second but finally shrugged it off. "Fine, you´re almost a teenager, let´s act like teenagers." He pulled his pants down, kicking them aside. "I guess you´ve got practice?"

Seifer hadn´t seen it coming. Zell felt particularly good about the surprised look when he punched him in the stomach. It hadn´t even been a very hard punch, just hard enough to make sure he remembered not to make more lousy comments.

"Now we can continue."

"You little shit."

Zell grinned, snapping back Seifer´s underwear. Wasn´t that nice? He rubbed over Seifer´s dick, slowly, enjoying the gasps that Seifer tried not to let him hear, pretending to be angry about the little hit. And here Seifer had thought he would fuck him with that dick. Way too thick. He slowly licked over the underside, enjoying the tremble that went over Seifer´s stomach. Seifer grabbed onto the couch, slowly sliding down into a lying position.

Zell teased the head, giving it a few nudges before he took it into his mouth. Just the head. "Could you be a bit quieter? I´ve got neighbours." Seifer groaned, putting his arm over his eyes. "Yeah maybe you get on with it already."

Ah, he could do that, but where would be the fun? Zell rubbed his index finger over the slit, getting rid of the precum. He was about to actually get it in his mouth when Seifer interrupted him.

"You know what, I changed my mind."

"What? About what?" Zell thought about swallowing it anyway, it looked so teasingly at him.

"I can bottom this one time. This is not going anywhere!"

"Are you serious? I was…"

"Yes, for fuck´s sake, should I spell it out?"

Zell shrugged, he didn´t need much convincing. He pulled on Seifer´s underwear, who willingly moved his butt up, and pulled him a bit closer. He should have some condoms nearby… emergency one in his wallet. Good thing he hadn´t thrown his pants too far. Ripping it open he quickly pulled it on and spit in his hand.

"What are you doing?"

Zell hesitated for a second, looking over to Seifer. "Well… I guess it´s obvious?"

"We´re not in the fucking woods, don't you have some lube?"

Oh. He hadn´t even considered it. There was already some lube on the condom and anyway…

"Do you?"

"I guess. I just moved in three weeks ago, I´ve got to look…" Seifer gestured at him to get going. Rolling his eyes he got up, searching the drawer in his bedroom. Unbelievable. He could at least try to be a bit more flexible, this was like the worst interruption of all times and if he wasn´t even sure if he had some, it´s not as if he had an enormous sex life to begin with!

"You found one?"

"Stop screaming! Neighbours, forgotten?" Cursing, he went through the last drawer and there it was, behind some T-shirts. He couldn´t even remember when he had bought it.

"I think I´m gonna leave."

"Can you wait a second maybe?" Zell tried to figure out where the expiration date was printed, the last thing he wanted was to explain why that dude he wasn´t related to was having severe problems with his bowels and what might´ve caused it…

"Got it. You still there?" He hadn´t moved a millimeter. Fucking drama queen. "Are you asleep?"

"No, I just pretend." Seifer moved his arm away from his eyes. "Is that actual lube or just some food you found?"

Zell already started putting it on his dick and didn´t even look up. "Yeah, some butter. `s tasty. Come on now." He grabbed Seifer´s legs, pulling him towards him. "Let´s try like this, if it hurts just… say something."

"No, I´m gonna suffer quietly and what the fuck do you think I´m gonna do?"

Zell huffed, trying not to punch him again. He adjusted himself a bit and then pushed in, a bit more quickly than necessary.

"Fuck, Zell, a little warning maybe?"

"Got all the warnings in the world… you fine? Can I move?"

Seifer nodded impatiently. Hesitating for a second Zell leaned down, kissing him deeply before he started moving. Everything was nicer with a bit more body contact. He started out slowly, barely leaving Seifer´s mouth, until he felt him ease a bit, relax. Zell knew he had been impatient, but there was no sense in apologizing now. When Seifer was slowly panting into his mouth, Zell picked up the pace a bit.

„You still alright here?"

„Must be a bad fuck... if you can´t stop talking..."

Zell grinned, pressing in as deep as he could. If he wanted it that way. It didn´t take long for him to feel like he was about to come, hands pressed against the armrest of the couch, his forehead resting against Seifer.

„Hey, you wanna turn around? Or..."

Seifer didn´t even bother to answer, he raised his chin enough to steal another kiss, wrapping his legs around Zell´s hips. „`s just fine as it is."

A few more strokes and Zell was done, collapsing against Seifer´s chest. He had to catch his breath a bit before he could deal with the rest. Slowly moving down, he finally got a taste of Seifer´s cock. He was a bit tired, but hearing the surprised gasp was worth it anyway. He didn´t play around, just swallowed as much as he could without gagging. Seifer actually grabbed his hair, something that he hated, but for this one occasion he didn´t protest. Not after Seifer had offered himself so willingly. Well, more or less.

Barely a minute later Seifer was already grabbing harder, trying to press Zell as much as possible. He wanted to get away, he hated to swallow, but he also didn´t want to lie in a pool of cum later and there was no time to grab a tissue or whatever and... retching quietly, he moved away. Didn´t want to make it sound like he was disgusted. But he seriously needed some water.

„And here you thought I was the slut."

Or maybe he could live with it. „Oh shut up, this is not a contest." He lied down, right on Seifer´s chest, playing lightly with the dark blonde hair. He wanted to say something, something snarky, but... too tired...


A loud thump woke him up. It took some time for Zell to realize that he had fallen off the couch and he slowly shuffled over to his own bed. The next time he woke up, he felt refreshed and better than in ages. He heard Seifer outside, probably looking for something to eat, maybe just getting ready to leave. Stretching, he glanced at the clock.

"Fuck! Why didn´t you wake me? Asshole, I´m not on holiday!"

Seifer looked up from his toast, big eyes. It looked hilarious. It was absolutely not the right time.

"What? I didn´t think you had to be somewhere in time."

"I told you I had training! I can´t just pop up whenever I feel like it!"

Seifer looked into a far corner, deep in thought.

"Well, now I know."

"That was three hours ago." He rubbed over his head, his hair probably looked a mess. "I´m gonna... I´m gonna call it in. Take a sick day. I cannot go there and tell my trainer I missed because I was too tired from a fuck!"

Seifer grinned, but kept his thoughts to himself. Better for him.

Half an hour later Zell managed to take a shower and was somewhat calmed down. It was embarrassing, that way he would never win gold at worlds and there were regionals to tackle soon and...

"It´s just one day. The world won´t end because of it."

"Why are you still here?" Zell looked over to Seifer who changed his spot to the couch, zapping through some programs.

"Thought I could at least wait till you´re awake before I leave. Wouldn´t feel quite so... awful."

Zell nibbled on some toast, not sure if he wanted to eat. He should go for a jog or do something, make up for the lost time... "Why are you so cheery anyway, shouldn´t you still be hungover?"

"Told you I wasn´t drunk."

Nibbling some more on his toast, he watched Seifer a bit. Or he could just... it was just one day. One fucking day. "Hey Seifer, you got plans for later?"

Seifer threw the remote on the couch and got up in an instant. "Thought you would never ask!"

Zell eyed him suspiciously. "So you didn´t wake me on purpose!"

Seifer grinned, walking over to the table. "Nah, but I was kinda hoping it wouldn´t take long. This is actually better and it´s barely eleven."

"And why? Aren´t you busy fishing or whatever?"

Seifer shrugged, sitting down. "Not really, but..." He looked around, thinking. "I barely know anything about you and you are from here, so you could show me around a bit."

"What, like a date?" Zell grinned. Now that was precious. "How cute. I have no hard feelings, so you don´t have to feel like you have to make up for it or whatever."

"It´s not as if I forced you!"

And now he was embarrassed. Zell could hardly think of anything that would make him comply faster. And besides... "Y´know, I like to go over to Balamb Garden when I have time or the weather is nice or I want to relax a bit. Have you been there already?"

Seifer squinted but slowly shook his head. "No, not quite my thing."

"Right, you´re more into fishing." Zell ignored the protesting huff. "It´s the most famous sight in Balamb, you should at least been there once when you´re on holiday here anyway. And don´t scoff, it´s not just flowers."


The ride took them forty minutes in which Zell didn´t stop talking, pointing out every village they passed, how most of them were at the sea and how the mountains were barely inhabited, and Balamb was living mostly of the tourists for the mild weather the whole year and the pretty beaches... Seifer didn´t tell him to stop talking, although it didn´t interest him in the slightest. But it was nice having someone blabber during a long ride, and since he didn´t have anything to do anyway, it served as a nice background noise.

"And there it is. Looks impressive, right?"

Seifer looked up and yes, indeed. It looked impressive. The Garden was huge, formed like a weird ship and growing smaller with every floor. The design surely was rather outlandish.

"See, they divided the floors for every continent. They show Galbadia and Balamb in the ground floor, Trabia and Esthar in the first and in the top is Centra."

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "There´s nothing growing in Centra besides cacti. Why waste a whole floor on it?"

Zell huffed, annoyed. "Wait till you see it. It´s actually a cooporation between Centra and Balamb, making it more attractive for tourists or something."

Seifer leaned back again, having seen enough. "Yeah, they really need every bit of advertisement they can get."

Zell eyed him and Seifer sensed there was another speech prepared. He already tuned out again.

"Just so you know, if Esthar hadn´t colonized Centra a few hundred years ago, the continent wouldn´t be so run-down. There had been an impressive culture, most of it had been destroyed but what is still there is absolutely worth a visit. I was there once, a small championship took place in the capital and..."

Tuning out. Yes.

When they finally arrived, Seifer couldn´t help himself. He had to stare like some villager coming to the big city. It was much larger than he had anticipated, hadn´t looked like that from far away. And the prices for the parking lot were horrendous.

"They really take advantage that they are in the middle of nowhere, eh?"

Zell shrugged and paid without a comment. Seifer considered paying, he probably earned more than some athlete, but then again... he had to watch flowers for a whole afternoon. The entrance fee was equally high, at least he had some tourist ticket for a discount.

"Almasy? That´s your last name? No wonder you´ve got no sympathy with Centra!"

They walked through the park surrounding the garden. Seifer rolled his eyes, kicking a pebble away. "My great-grandparents are from Esthar, I don´t even know from where exactly, get a grip. I just think that Centra isn´t worth a visit, I don´t want them to starve to death."

Zell gave him a suspicious glare but didn´t comment any further. A blessing.


He didn´t want to say it out loud but the Garden was beautiful. It was immensely large, divided into small rooms, each displaying another eco system and despite the amount of cars he had seen outside it was relatively empty. The crowd probably dispersed in the large area.

"Trabia has a Garden as well, but it´s more a zoo. `s still pretty cool."

Seifer nodded slightly. "You come around a lot, eh?"

"Was a school trip. Trabia is awful." He laughed, it almost seemed blasphemous in the quiet atmosphere.

"They want to build one in Galbadia, don´t know what they want to show. Just that it will be the biggest Garden in the world!"

Zell inspected an assortment of small blue flowers that were growing on a rock. "Yeah, Galbadia always has to show it got a big dick. Didn´t quite end in Timber." He got up again, pointing to the door on the far left. "That one has water plants, there´s a huge pond in the middle."

Balamb´s part consisted mostly of trees and lichens which could be found in the mountains. They went through rather quickly and up to the first floor. Trabia was equally boring, Esthar though had a large assortment of… cacti.

"There´s not even that much desert in Esthar!"

Zell laughed, poking one especially vicious looking cactus. "Oh, I don´t know. You wanna take a break?" There was a bench right under a huge cactus. At least it was stylish and he could use a little to drink.

"And, happy to be back in Balamb?"

"You bet! Timber was…" Zell waved his hand. "Shithole. Never want to see it again."

"Sure it´s the city?"

Seifer looked him straight in the eyes, but Zell didn´t look away. Maybe he would get punched again but he had zero interest in becoming a pity fuck for some dramatic breakup. More than he already was.

"I hate Timber. I don´t hate Squall. I´m just…" Now he looked away, a pained look in his eyes. That was not good. Seifer hoped he wouldn´t start to cry. "Disappointed. I had expected some more. I thought…"

"He would take it more seriously? How did it end?"

"You are quite nosy, you know that? Are you interrogating me, officer?"

"Detective. Nah, I´m just a curious bastard." He grinned, closing the cap on his water bottle.

Zell rubbed his arms, visibly fighting the urge to just spill it all out. Seifer knew he just had to wait a bit.

"He… broke up after he met Rinoa. You know, it´s okay, it´s not his fault he fell in love, but… but telling me that he never thought we would last long but it had been nice…!" Zell stopped for a second, pulling his legs up so he could rest his chin on them. "I moved to Timber for him. I didn´t do that because I thought it would be nice for a fucking year! Ts." He looked away, over some more Estharian cacti, all just as hard and uncaring as Squall obviously proved to be. Seifer reluctantly put his hand on Zell´s shoulder. He wasn´t sure what he should do, but maybe… he shouldn´t do anything. Maybe Zell was happy just having been able to tell someone.

"What´s with you and Rinoa? I guess you weren´t the one to end it."

Seifer sighed. That. "No, it was over before she went to Timber. Because she went to Timber, I don´t know. It didn´t work all that well anyway, with her ambitions to go into politics. She told me we were growing apart or some bullshit like that. It doesn´t matter. We´re staying friends."

Zell huffed, his face still buried between his arms. "Yeah, that´s why you sulked at her wedding like a pro."

"You know, there´s a difference between being separated and knowing that it´s completely over. It hurt, but I got over it. Why did you even go there?"

"Some friends of mine were there. Whatever, I didn´t talk to them and then I left, barely counts as attendance. I haven´t heard anything of them since then either."

At least someone had found closure. Though Seifer doubted Squall had a hard time getting over it anyway.

"Come on, we haven´t seen Centra yet. After all your blabbering I´m actually curious."

Leaning back on the bench Zell grinned. Reluctantly, but at least there weren´t hidden tears streaming down the awful tattoo. "You won´t be disappointed you bastard."


He wasn´t. Not in his wildest dreams had he thought he would be amazed by the flora of Centra, but who knew.

"Zell, look at this. It´s a Ruby Dragon." He pointed at the huge red flower, barely supported by the tiny branch. "And it´s super rare. Centra doesn´t look like that after all."

"Look at that orchid, a Grand Mantis. Not all that rare. And over there, a blitz, the most awesome bushes in the world. I know how that sounds. And do you see the one down on the left? It´s a …"

"Okay okay, I´m convinced. Let´s go to the top, I want to see the view. I will inspect the rest later."

Just like the next best tourist. Seifer shook his head, amused about himself, not that it kept him from climbing the stairs quickly. He was not disappointed. The view from the top was breathtaking, a panorama view of the mountains on one side, the sea on the other. Mostly benches and a few decorative plants from all continents, nothing fancy, nothing too plain. Zell came after him, a bit slower. Already used to it probably.

"It´s always worth going to the top, eh?"

Yes. And there weren´t even any other people. Seifer breathed in calmly, feeling himself relax. He felt content. Happy. He couldn´t quite…

"Zell, do you… have this feeling when you´re here? Like this is where you should be? Where you belong?"

Where you should´ve been. He turned around, Zell was just looking at him, a neutral expression on his face, not saying anything.

"So what do you say?"

Zell opened his mouth, about to answer, but somehow… Seifer stepped closer, trying to focus, his eyes couldn´t… quite… it looked like static, the whole room was slightly out of synch and Zell was moving his mouth but he couldn´t hear it, everything blurry and moving and spinning and Seifer tried to grab his head, tried to make it stop, whatever was going on, he didn´t want to see the whole world turn into a broken TV, it had been so nice, why couldn´t it stay this way, why couldn´t it just stay this way?

He opened his eyes, and nothing was there. Maybe he hadn't opened them, maybe he just didn´t know anymore, it couldn´t be, this couldn´t be all… that was left. That was…

"…eifer. Seifer. Seifer!"

Light was shining him straight in the face, making him squint. Someone shook him, it took him some time to see clearly, make out who it was. Zell was leaning over him, his face dirty and bloody.

"You´re awake."


AN: I don´t know what´s going on, but I´m writing quicker than ever! I guess the fics done end of the week. Hope you liked it and stay for the final act!