Irvine was... bewildered. That was the best word he could come up with, even though it didn't express what he needed it to. He was confused, yes, but it was an innately pleasant confusion, one he couldn't quite break through.
He had come back from the Training Center the night before with that same confusion hovering over him, after Seifer's admission and subsequent actions. The blonde had let him go, hadn't followed for once. He'd made his point, after all. Still, Irvine couldn't think even though he had the privacy he'd been seeking out. Maybe that kiss had addled his brains; it would have done so to any sane person.
The sniper was still trying to figure out just where that had come from. As he'd told the blonde before, during their encounter on the outer deck, they had never been friends, had never been close. He had been under the impression that Seifer had never liked him at all, as little attention as he had always paid Irvine. Even as kids, he'd just sort of passed the other by. Now this... it was baffling, but not in a bad way. Even as Irvine turned everything over again and again, trying to work it out in his own mind, he couldn't see it in a negative light.
Why would he? The other hadn't done anything to harm him, had never intended to. This attention was infinitely better than the outright cruelty Seifer had always shown the rest of the orphanage gang, even if he'd gotten better about it recently. Still, Irvine couldn't understand what the hell might be going through the blonde's head, or what to make of it. Even the playboy cowboy hadn't had a response last night, not for something so sudden, so unexpected.
He couldn't just roll with the punches this time, couldn't just accept and move on. Things were too different, too out of the ordinary to treat them the way Irvine usually treated everything else.
Sleeping on it hadn't brought any answers, and Irvine prepared to face his class still more than a bit confused. At least he didn't have to worry about any of them throwing him off - he knew his trade too well to be sidetracked by any questions. Teaching had never really been something he'd seen himself doing, but he managed well enough, according to the rest of the SeeDs.
He'd half expected Seifer to be hovering in the back of his classroom again, but the blonde was conspicuous only by his absence. The students were relieved, but Irvine wasn't sure what to think of it. Damn the man, sending him reeling like that!
By the end of the day, he knew he needed to track down the blonde, talk some things out. Simply mulling over his own confusion wasn't helping; he needed straight answers. At the very least, he could trust Seifer to give him those. Bluntness seemed to be the way he worked.
The Training Center was empty of any sign of the gunblade-user, and asking around didn't produce any leads to the man. Finally Irvine ended up making his way towards the SeeD dorm the other currently occupied, though he hadn't wanted to resort to invading the other's personal space. The blonde wasn't exactly the most open of people, after all. He probably wouldn't want people harassing him in his own home (of sorts) unless he expressly invited them.
A knock yielded no answers, but the sniper lingered there for a moment, rapping on the door a little louder. A muffled sound from within let him know that, at the very least, someone was there, and Irvine waited until the door swung inward, squeaking lightly on its hinges.
Seifer looked only half awake, even though it was barely evening. Though the sniper couldn't say he knew exactly what the other did with his time (aside from following him, lately), so maybe this was normal. He blinked at Irvine uncomprehendingly, turning aside from a moment to let out a yawn before he spoke.
"What is it, Kinneas? Figured I'd scared you off." The words lacked any venom, though. Seifer just leaned against the doorframe, looking at him.
The cowboy managed a smile, raising a hand to push auburn hair out of his face. "Mind if I come in? Haven't decided if I'm scared off or not yet, y'know."
Muffling a snicker, the blonde pulled the door open further, gesturing the other inside. A moment's hesitation and he went, scanning the room quickly. It was a mess, but that was sort of expected. Seifer had never struck him as the neat freak type. The only things in good order were the carefully cleaned gunblade propped against one wall, and the stack of clean (if unfolded) laundry on the edge of the standard-issue desk. Irvine chose to lean against that desk, not quite comfortable enough to settle in anywhere else.
"Well?" Seifer had flopped back on his bed, the rumpled sheets indicating he'd only just vacated it when the sniper had knocked. Irvine tried not to look at him, but he found it difficult - the blonde made quite the sight even without trying. He hadn't paid attention to it before, probably because he hadn't had reason to turn his thoughts that way. The other had brought himself into a different light, whether Irvine liked it or not.
That seemed to be the way a lot of things went with Seifer - his way, or the highway.
The sniper decided to just try the other's tactic, that characteristic bluntness that came so easily to him. Better to be honest and get things out in the open, wasn't it? "Look, I just don't get what happened. You're not the kinda guy who goes around helpin' people out outta the goodness of your heart." The blonde shrugged acknowledgement, clearly not bothered by what some people would have taken as an insult. "What I'm tryin' to figure out is-"
"Why?" Seifer grinned at the other's expression. "You always wanna know why, cowboy. One of your better qualities." He was up again, even though he'd just gotten comfortable. Not closing too much distance this time, he paced the small square of open floor. His smile faded a little, replaced by that unaccustomed seriousness.
"What can I say, Kinneas? I'm not too good at explaining, and I don't half understand things myself. All I know is, you were starting to get really messed up there for a while, after Selphie, and I didn't like it." He frowned, apparently irritated by his own inability to put things into words. "I mean, you've always been around, one way or another, but I'd never seen you like that. It wasn't right." Again he shook his head, raking fingers through short-cropped hair. "I just felt like I needed to do something, or you were gonna lose everything you've always been. I couldn't watch that happen."
That much made sense, or at least the sniper thought it did. It still confused him, the changeover from the uncaring Seifer he'd always known, but... hell, the war had changed them all. Seifer had changed, Irvine had seen as much in the other's coming back to Garden, his interactions with people. He hadn't turned into a nice guy, never would, but there was something different about him now. Maybe that change had started another.
Still, the sniper had one more question. "But you kissed me because...?" Honest confusion in his voice; that was what had sent him all disconcerted the most.
Seifer stopped his pacing and looked at him, a half-smirk curving his lips, a brow raised. There was humor in his face, just as there was in his voice. "Come on, Kinneas. Who wouldn't?"
He had to laugh at that, although still a little disconcerted by the blonde's interest. Irvine was well aware that he was the subject of more than a few crushes, a hell of a lot of casual lust. But he hadn't taken Seifer for the sort to be interested in, well, anyone, particularly not anyone of the male persuasion. Even more particularly not the cowboy who was well known for his fickleness, his casual attitude towards relationships.
Of course, it wasn't like Seifer was actually trying to start anything. He wasn't that sort of person, either. Still, the sniper had to ask. "So... what now?"
"What now?" The blonde snickered again, amused by the question. "Nothing now, Kinneas. I'm not expecting anything. I did what I intended to, so you go back to your normal life. Or," and his expression shifted into a decidedly wicked leer, tone only half teasing, "You can stay."
This time it was Irvine who pushed himself away from the desk, made an exasperated noise, and closed in for a kiss.