Baker's Dozen - Zell
Pairings - past onesided Quistis/Squall, past Rinoa/Squall, Selphie/Irvine, onesided Zell/LibraryGirl, Quistis/OC, and pre-Seifer/Squall
Inopportune
Zell had long ago decided that he had the worst timing ever.
As a child, he'd repeatedly walked in on his parents making out. After remembering that his parents had adopted him, Zell had no doubt he'd walked in on Matron and Cid a few times too, though he never could recall doing so. It was a blessing, as far as he was concerned, seeing as he could all too clearly recall Ma and Pa Dincht lip-locked in the living room on more than a few occasions; he didn't need the additional mental scarring.
However, his parent's were not the only ones Zell had walked in on. He honestly thought it was some sort of curse; he couldn't manage to get a girlfriend of his own, but he'd witnessed just about everyone else experiencing romantic interludes. It just wasn't fair.
He'd walked in on various Trepies hooking up with other Trepies which wasn't so bad - most of the Trepies were women and he was a healthy, teenaged male. It wasn't until later, when Quistis was no longer Zell's instructor but his sister, that Zell began to get a little creeped out by the Trepies because odds were that they were imagining Quistis when they were kissing one of their fellow 'fangirls.' The idea that the two hot chicks he'd walked in on the other day were fantasizing about his sister as they really got into it... was understandably a bit disturbing.
Zell had walked in on Selphie and Irvine only once, which was even weirder than walking in on Trepies. After all, Zell considered Selphie his sister and Irvine his brother so... as long as they didn't consider one another siblings, which they obviously didn't, then it was fine. Zell just wished they'd start locking doors.
People kissing - or doing things just barely pg-13 instead of R - weren't the only things that Zell had been subjected to seeing. Sometimes it was an embarrassing moment, like when he tracked down Squall on the night of the Graduation Ball only to find Quistis pouring her heart out to him and all but professing her love for the obtuse brunet. Zell had known nearly all year that Quistis had an unrequited crush on Squall, but watching her set herself up for a fall had been... painful even back when he hadn't known she was his foster sibling. Fortunately neither of them had noticed him, or it could have been worse.
Sometimes it was a painful moment, like when he'd walked in on Squall comforting Rinoa after she'd been rescued from being frozen after being outed as a Sorceress. The raven haired girl had put on a brave front for everyone else, but alone with Squall she'd broken down sobbing. Squall had held her, a helpless expression on his face, unable to say anything. Squall hadn't known what words to use, not even the meaningless phrases of comfort other people would have used in his place, and he was visibly hurt over not knowing how to help.
Shocking events were fairly common things for Zell to happen upon as well. Accidentally overhearing Rinoa breaking up with Squall fell firmly into that category. She'd been gentle, telling him that they simply didn't feel the way they thought they did about one another; the fact that the Sorceress-Knight bond had yet to bind them together was proof. "We've never said 'I love you,' Squall, because our feelings just aren't that strong. We care for each other and love each other, even, but loving one another and being in love... I've come to understand the difference. I don't want to hurt you, but waiting would make this worse and... I have to find someone who can form the bond with me. I can already feel my magic growing more chaotic."
Suffice it to say, that was probably the most heartbreaking thing for Zell to have stumbled upon. He'd kind of figured that Squall and Rinoa were, well, forever.
Zell was startled when he walked in on Quistis making dinner for her date, a pretty redheaded woman who'd been respectably nervous at the impromptu introductions. Considering her previous crush on Squall, Zell had never considered that Quistis might be bi, despite the orientation of her fangirls. He'd been pleased, however. Quistis deserved to have someone who cared about her. Though, Zell had been a little envious of her happiness too. He'd asked out Marina, the pretty cadet who worked in the library and been shot down.
Marina, apparently, had a boyfriend in Dollet who she intended to marry once she'd graduated the academy without applying for SeeD. If only he'd asked a year earlier after the war had ended... though she'd have probably only said yes because of the fame he'd had at the time. Now, after everything had finally cooled off, only Squall, Seifer, Rinoa, and Edea's names were still in the spotlight.
The weirdest thing Zell had walked in on, though, had the appearance of being perfectly innocent. Zell had been giving a report to Squall and Seifer had been in the room, asleep on the couch. It was lunch time and Zell was ready to bounce out of the room but, for whatever reason, paused in the door to see if Squall and Seifer were coming along too. He didn't really care if Seifer came along - the two of them would never really be friends, but the dislike they'd once shared was mostly gone - and had watched in surprise as Squall sat on the edge of the couch, running his fingers idly through the blonde gunblader's hair.
Seifer instinctively leaned into Squall's touch without waking, mumbling something in his sleep that was, quite likely, Squall's name. The look on Squall's face... Squall looked like he'd just seen a rainbow or something equally beautiful for the first time. That particular combination of surprise, happiness, and awe was unmistakable. Zell got out of there before he could see anymore; whatever was going on between Seifer and Squall... Zell did not want to know just yet.
After all, Zell was pretty certain they hadn't figured it out anyway.