Title: Noblesse Oblige
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison & Shivani
Chapters: 11of 19
Rating: T
Pairings: Seifer/Squall, Irvine/Selphie, Zell/Xu, Quistis/OMC, Fujin/Raijin
Warnings: AU, major canon-buggery, OoC Squall, slash/yaoi, mention of off-screen murder/dismemberment
Summary: No one thought to warn Squall against touching his younger self, and he leaves a part of himself behind when he returns to Time Compression.
A/N: We're not going to talk about how much trouble this chapter gave me. Because talking about it might very well make me homicidal. Rawr.
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Everything I Have In This World
-0-0-0-
"How did your trip to the city go?" Gregory asked as he joined them in the dining room for lunch. Squall and Seifer were still dressed in their street clothes, since they'd spent the time remaining until lunch looking at the old photos Christal had unearthed and debating which ones she could add to those already adorning the house. They'd all agreed that the photos in the suits could wait until that evening, when Gregory was home and the ambient lighting was better.
"Very well," Seifer replied with an easy smile. "Which reminds me... Chris, sorry we've had to stay in the past couple of days, but we can go out tomorrow, if you'd like. Violet too."
"What?" Violet breathed.
" 'Very well', indeed," Gregory murmured. The silent, 'Reconnaissance, my ass,' remained between the three males.
"We'll have to go see that new film!" Christal insisted. "And maybe a lunch out? And some proper clothing for you, Violet–"
"You don't have to do that..." Violet tried.
"Nonsense, dear." Christal shot her a smile. "Oh! And maybe a trip to the museum..."
"Chris," Squall interrupted, a note of fondness in his voice, "slow down. Unless something comes up, we're here until the end of next week."
Christal's entire face lit up, making her appear a good decade younger. "We'll have to do lunch and shopping tomorrow," she decided. "We can get copies of those photos for you boys, too. The next day we can go to the museum..."
Gregory, Squall, and Seifer just sort of sighed and sat back to let Christal plan out their next week. The household servants and Edgar all covered smiles or chuckled into their meal. Violet sort of just stared at the woman in surprise, because she was being so obviously included in these plans, as if it wasn't even a question.
Once lunch was over, Seifer offered, "Squall and I are going to go change, I think. You'll be in the sitting room?"
"We will," Christal agreed, taking Gregory's arm. "You haven't seen the photos yet!"
Violet followed the two boys up the stairs, asking, "You got him to let me go? You didn't pay for me, did you, because if that's–"
"There was no exchange of money involved," Seifer interrupted her. "We don't buy people, even to free them. We're just very... persuasive."
Squall snorted and shoved his bedroom door opened as he pulled his hoodie off.
Violet, standing behind the two teens, caught sight of Squall's gun and the faint bulge under the back of Seifer's own hoodie in the same spot and frowned. "So, what, you threatened him? That's not much better than what he does to other people!"
Squall glanced back at her, eyes icy. "You were under the impression we went in there and chatted over tea? Were you or were you not there when we killed five men two nights ago in helping you?"
Seifer rolled his eyes. "No one died this time, and there were no guns held to any heads – I never even drew my gun. You're your own person again, and so are all those other women Semans was keeping."
Violet blinked at that, all the disgust with their methods leaving her. "You freed...everyone?"
"What, you thought you were special?" Squall snapped.
Seifer sighed. "Social skills, Squally."
Squall huffed and slammed his room door behind him.
Seifer shook his head, amused by his best friend's usual irritability, and turned back to Violet. "We didn't go there with the sole purpose of getting Semans to leave you alone, Violet; we went there because neither Squall nor myself can sit back and watch people being used as slaves, bound by the whims of another. It wasn't just for you, but for every woman in that disgusting room. A couple of them are staying in the city, if you wanted to meet them outside of Semans' control, but most of them opted to return home." He paused for a moment to consider that while Violet stared at him with tears welling in her eyes. "Okay, I suppose some money passed hands, but only because Semans wasn't willing to front money for train tickets, so Squall and I did that."
Violet launched herself forward and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered.
Seifer awkwardly patted her head. Most females he knew didn't really do the whole 'throw yourself into the arms of the nearest man and sob in relief', so it wasn't really something he was used to. Not that Violet was sobbing, per se, but there were almost certainly tears involved. "Uhm, you're welcome?"
Squall's door opened and Violet released Seifer to hug Squall, whispering, "Thank you," to him as well.
Seifer was only a little jealous when Squall seemed to know exactly what to do, wrapping his arms around her and returning the hug. "Don't worry about it." He pulled back and offered her a tissue – where the hell he'd pulled it from, Seifer had no clue. "Wipe your face so Chris doesn't think we did something terrible to you. Seifer, go change."
"You are not human," Seifer insisted.
Squall rolled his eyes and quickly signed, 'Rinoa.'
Understanding dawned; Squall would have learned to handle girls in case he had to deal with Rinoa, though they were both hoping it wouldn't come to that. "Still not human," Seifer insisted before slipping into his room.
Squall rolled his eyes again, glancing at Violet as the young woman let out a quiet laugh. "You two are so close," she whispered. "I'm...sorry. If I've been making you jealous."
Squall's face went blank. 'Jealous? Why would I be jealous?' Shiva started laughing in the back of his head. 'Either explain the way a female's mind works, or shut up.' Shiva just laughed harder. "I don't understand," he said to Violet.
The woman blinked and sighed before taking a step back, recalling that she was still in Squall's personal space. "You care about him," she offered, wondering if she'd read them wrong. Not many boys were that close, not that she knew. And after all the things she'd heard about Garden and SeeD, about how competitive and cut-throat it was, it made no sense that they would be so close. Even if they had been adopted by the same couple.
"He's my best friend," Squall replied, still confused. "We grew up together."
Seifer's room door opened. He took a good look at them, taking in Violet's earnest expression and the blank, confused look on Squall's face, then let out a heavy sigh. "Violet, please don't try talking emotions with Squally, you'll break him."
"I am not that bad!" Squall insisted, deciding to forget about Violet's confusing words.
Seifer smiled. "You're not as bad as you could be," he agreed, something secretive and shared just between them in his voice.
"Thank Hyne for that," Squall muttered and Seifer laughed. "Come on, let's go back downstairs."
Violet shook her head as they made their way back to Christal and Gregory. Those two were so confusing.
-0-
Squall stared out his bedroom window without really seeing anything. Try as he might, he hadn't been able to get Violet's earlier words out of his head, and it bothered him. During dinner, Jessie had made a point to flirt with Seifer – he'd been ignoring her the whole day – and he'd sort of waved her off, distracted by something Squall had been saying about the programme they'd just finished watching. It had been so unlike his usual self, but something in Squall's stomach had just about done a dance, and he hadn't been irritated at Jessie's advances, for once.
And that's when he realised he'd always been strangely short with any girl who made advances on Seifer, and he'd never even noticed it. He'd been acting out of jealousy for years, and he honestly hadn't known what to think about that, so he'd snapped his mouth shut and frowned a bit into his food.
And Seifer had blinked and asked, "Squall? You okay?"
"Just thinking," Squall had replied, stabbing at his mashed potatoes.
Seifer had shrugged and turned to say something to Gregory, silently agreeing to leave Squall to his thoughts without question and even heading Christal off before she could pester him. Seifer was the only person who didn't push; all their other friends, all of the Ghost's friends, they'd always pushed and pushed, trying to get him to talk about what he was feeling or thinking. The only time Seifer had ever pushed was about the Ghost, and Squall had needed to share that, in retrospect.
Seifer knew when to push, was the important thing, and Squall loved him for that.
'Wait, love?' Squall had realised, and he'd frozen with his fork halfway to his mouth. 'Love, like... like platonic, right? Because we're best friends, and even if we kissed–'
"Don't kid yourself, Ice Child," Diablos had interrupted. "Your emotions regarding the Fire Child haven't been strictly platonic since you told him about your Ghost, and even before that, it's suspect. Stop hiding from yourself and just get over it. It stopped being entertaining years ago. No matter what Shiva says."
Squall had set his fork down, then, and announced, "Excuse me," before practically fleeing the room.
He'd only been vaguely aware of Seifer's voice saying, "Chris, really, he'll be fine. Sometimes, Squally just needs a little bit of alone time. I'll check on him after dinner." And even through the casual tone, there had been a quiet current of concern that Squall hadn't recognised until he was already curled up on his bed, staring out the window and thinking over years of being best friends with Seifer Almasy and standing back to really look at his emotions in regards to his friend.
'I love him,' Squall admitted, his stomach knotting at the thought. 'I can't imagine my life without him. I don't want to imagine my life without him, even if it means we're just friends, like now. I don't...' Squall closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the window glass. 'I don't want to just be friends. I want... I want to be able to know he's always there, to sleep next to him and listen to him bitch and moan when I get out of bed at first light, or be kept up all night by him reading a book or typing on the computer. I want him there, on those rare nights when Shiva can't protect me from the dreams. I want to be able to throw those ridiculous stuffed animals at each other, like we did when Chris first bought them, without having to go out into the middle of the dorm hallway.
'I want to curl up with him after a long day and finally get a chance to relax. I want to share kisses without him always asking, even if that's kind of amusing. I want to–' his cheeks flushed with warmth and he pressed closer to the window, '–pleasure him, and be pleasured by him. I want to share my jour–' Squall sat up straight, surprised by his own thoughts, and his gaze turned, almost against his will, towards the drawer his collection of journals had been placed in shortly after their adoption, his bedroom in the manor being a far safer place than a dorm room in Garden. 'Can I really share that with someone? Seifer already knows everything about the Ghost, but everything is in there, my thoughts and fears and–'
"Love is a two-way street," Shiva advised. "If you want to make a relationship, hiding things isn't the way to do it. If you want to know his thoughts and fears, you must be willing to share your own. You don't have to share the journal, necessarily, but you will have to be willing to speak of them."
Squall rubbed at his scar, relaxing just the slightest bit at the familiar motion and uncaring that the make-up was flaking off. 'I know that. I–'
"Squall? You still alive in there?"
Squall's heart stopped for one moment and the knot in his stomach tightened. 'It's just Seifer,' he snapped at himself. 'Get a fucking grip.'
"Squally?"
"I'm– yeah, I'm fine."
The door pushed open and Seifer poked his head in, eyes dark with concern. "Chris wanted us to change into our tuxes," he said, instead of pressing Squall.
The knot in his stomach loosened a bit and Squall relaxed. "Oh, right. Forgot about that..." He slipped off his bed and over to his cupboard, where his suit and dress had both been hung up during their first night. "I'll be right out."
Seifer didn't move for a long moment, watching Squall shuffle through his things. When the brunet looked back at him curiously, he shook his head. "Okay," he agreed and pulled the door shut behind him. Seifer hated it when Squall hid things from him, especially considering the happenings of the last twenty-four hours, but he figured it was probably because of the last twenty-four hours that Squall was being so close-mouthed.
'We agreed to talk tonight,' Seifer reminded himself as he pulled out the two tuxes in his own cupboard and looked between them. 'The dark green, or the black? Squally's suit is black, but I really like the green. And I wore the black last night... Not that there's anything wrong with wearing the same tux... Oh, who am I kidding?' The black tux was shoved back in the cupboard and Seifer set about changing into the green one.
Seifer finished before Squall, but considering how long it usually took Squall to get into fancy dress – especially since it required taming his hair – Seifer wasn't all that surprised, and he leaned back against the wall outside Squall's door, his mind once again turning to the troubled frown Squall had been sporting when he'd looked in earlier. 'Just as long as he's not having second thou– Oh, dear Hyne, don't let him be having second thoughts. I am so not giving up whatever this is without one hell of a fight, Leonhart. Don't you even think about chickening out on me.'
The door of Squall's room pulled open and he stepped out into the hallway, scowling a bit as he fought with his bowtie. "Damn...thing..."
Seifer laughed at that, because Squall always had trouble with his ties – bow or straight – for some reason no one could comprehend. Squall Leonhart, boy genius, nothing they threw at him even slowed him down. Except a tie.
Squall let out an irritated sound and pulled the thing off to toss it in Seifer's face. "Fix it!"
Seifer fixed the mess Squall had knotted the fabric into and moved forward to put it on properly. "We should get you one of those clip-on bowties that they make for little kids."
"You'd best not be insinuating anything about my age, Seifer," Squall growled, still irritated at his bowtie.
"Never," Seifer replied, stepping back to take in his handiwork. "There, perfect."
With the cursed bowtie dealt with, Squall let himself get a good look at Seifer. "The green one?" he murmured, surprised. Seifer didn't wear his green suit often, since it rarely suited their missions, but Squall rather liked it on him; it brightened his eyes.
"Hm? Oh, yeah." Seifer shrugged. "I felt like it."
Squall reached up a hand, stopped himself just shy of Seifer's lapel for a breath, then continued the motion to brush his hand over the fold of fabric. "It looks good on you," he admitted.
Seifer blinked in surprise, then opened his mouth to say the first thing that came to mind: "Not as good as that dress did on you." Then he wanted to smack himself, because he didn't want to start a fight.
Anger flashed in Squall's eyes, but then he snorted and amusement took its place. "Social skills, Seifer," he teased, turning away. "Come on, before Chris comes up after us."
"Considering I've already had to dissuade her from coming up here three times since you vanished," Seifer replied with a light tone as he fell into step with Squall, "that's a very real possibility. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Squall paused for a blink and shook his head. "Not right this moment," he allowed.
"Hm. I suppose I'll have to make do," Seifer decided.
"...thank you."
Seifer shot the younger teen a smile. "I do possess some tact."
"Will wonders never cease."
"Oh, shut up."
Squall's lips twitched with the faintest hint of a smile, which Seifer would have missed if he hadn't been shooting the younger teen a mock irritated look. But he saw it, and he relaxed a bit, figuring that if Squall was still smiling at a stupid rejoinder, they would be okay.
Christal was appropriately excited to see the two teens in their suits, almost more so than she'd been about the suit and dress the night before. Once the photos were done, the two SeeDs excused themselves for the night, Seifer claiming he wanted to get some reading in while Squall insisted he was feeling a little tired – "We had a late night and an early morning, Chris. Really, I'm fine." – and returned to their rooms.
Outside his door, Squall said, "When you're done, we can talk in my room."
Seifer raised an eyebrow at that, since Squall never agreed to meetings anywhere near his journal, even though Seifer had sworn to leave it alone. "Okay," he agreed.
When Seifer got into Squall's room, the brunet was seated on his pillow – under which Seifer knew he kept his journal – and staring out the window. Seifer settled on the edge of the bed, feeling suddenly very uncertain. Which was silly, because he'd never felt uncertain around Squall before. Had he?
"While it's not really an official mandate, fraternization between SeeDs is a really bad idea. Especially when you're partners," Squall commented quietly.
Seifer tensed. "You're not–?"
"That being said," Squall interrupted, turning to look at Seifer with tired eyes, "we've always been closer than strictly advisable; it's a large part of what makes us such a good team. The reason SeeD dislikes relationships between soldiers is because it could endanger a mission if one of the members is put in a spot where they have to choose between their partner and the preferred ending of the mission."
Seifer's expression darkened as he recalled just such a mission the two of them had been assigned on shortly after their trip to Centra, whereupon Seifer had been the one forced to choose between getting Squall out of a holding cell and possibly jeopardising everything, or going through with their orders and blowing the place to hell. He'd ended up trusting that Squall would find his own way out, because it was Squall – and because if he'd gone back for Squall and their mission failed, the younger SeeD would have killed him – and set the place to blow. Things had worked out for the best, but Seifer had hated being forced to choose between his best friend and a mission he didn't give a rat's ass about.
Squall's lips twisted with a grim smile. "Given, a close friendship isn't quite on the same level as romantic involvement, but if anyone in SeeD could make something like this work, it would be us. Not just because we've had practice, but because we're both experienced enough, and trust each other enough, that we can keep on task, no matter the danger." His eyes hardened. "Unless you disagree?"
Seifer frowned. Could he leave Squall behind again, knowing there was a chance that would be it? Could he survive being left behind without chance of rescue?
'Yes,' he decided. 'I trust Squall to get out of any tight spot, and knowing Squall was waiting for me would keep me going. It always has.' He nodded. "We're SeeD," he announced, "we live by our weapons, and one day we'll probably die by them; die young, even. I would rather chance a real relationship with you now, than sit back and watch our friendship break up because we wouldn't let ourselves take a chance."
Squall's eyes lit with relief and he slumped a bit. "Thank Hyne."
Seifer's eyes widened. "You mean, you weren't trying to talk yourself into ending this before it started?" he asked, more than a little surprised. He thought for sure that Squall had been citing quasi regulation at him to show him why this was a bad idea, not to make certain Seifer was aware of the risks.
Squall scooted forward, leaving his protective position over the pillow and journal, and rested his forehead against Seifer's shoulder. "The thought never crossed my mind," he admitted, because he hadn't thought about refusing this relationship, even before he'd realised the extent of his emotions for the blond.
Seifer twisted, moving more fully onto the bed and causing Squall's head to fall against his chest. When Seifer moved his arms around Squall's shoulders, the younger teen scooted closer and relaxed against him. Seifer took a moment to enjoy having his best friend – boyfriend? – in his arms, then asked, "What were you stressing yourself out about, then?"
"I–" Squall's throat closed over and he pressed his face more firmly against Seifer's chest; it was one thing to admit his feelings to himself, and something completely different to admit them out loud to the object of his affection.
Seifer's arms tightened around Squall, worried at the uncharacteristically halted response. Granted, Squall didn't always speak when given the chance, and he rarely said impolitic things, like Seifer was wont to do, but once he set himself to actually explaining something, he didn't stop partway through. "Squall?"
Squall took a deep breath and decided to try a less direct route, silently cursing his own lack of practise with sharing his thoughts and emotions for making this harder than it should have been. "Violet... said something to me, and it got me thinking."
"Do I need to beat her up?" Seifer wondered, only joking a little bit.
Squall huffed. "Shut up and let me talk, or get out," he ordered.
Seifer snorted at that, but when Squall started to shove against him, trying to get free, Seifer tightened his arms and said, "I'm not leaving." Squall stopped trying to get away, but he remained stubbornly silent until Seifer sighed and promised, "I won't interrupt you again."
"Hm." Squall shifted, getting more comfortable in Seifer's hold, then started speaking again, "She wanted to apologise for making me jealous– Shut up," he snapped when the chest under his head expanded with a deep breath, as if Seifer was preparing to speak. Seifer silently shook his head, but kept his mouth shut, so Squall continued, "She implied I was jealous of something she'd done concerning you, and I didn't get it. Then, at dinner, Jessie flirted with you, like she always does, and you ignored her. And I was... happy. I hadn't really realised it before, but I always get really irritated when you start flirting with girls, even when you do it to get information."
"You're jealous because I flirt with Jessie?" Seifer asked, then snapped his mouth shut and tightened his arms in preparation for Squall to try shoving away again.
Squall sighed. "Basically."
"I'll never flirt with another person again," Seifer swore.
Squall couldn't help the smile that stole across his face at that, and it showed in his voice when he replied, "Yes, you will, because I can't flirt – nor do I want to learn – and women tend to tell you far more than they otherwise would when you get obnoxiously charming."
"But if it bothers you–"
"Seifer," Squall interrupted, looking up to glare at the blond, "we're not letting our relationship affect the way we do our job."
Seifer deflated a bit. "I know, but we could still get the information without me flirting. Right?"
Squall sighed and shook his head, muttering, "Why did I have to fall in love with an idiot?" Then he froze and paled a bit, realising what he'd just said. 'Well, that's one way to tell him,' he thought somewhat cynically as he peeked back up at Seifer through his bangs.
For his part, Seifer sort of blinked a few times, Squall's words echoing in his ears. 'Love? Like, real love? Like, serious emotional attachment? Holy Hyne...' He looked down and met the scared eyes, more blue than grey with the emotion. "Squall..."
Squall swallowed and shook his head. "I don't– I hardly expect you to return the affect–"
Seifer leaned down and pressed his lips against Squall's, one hand coming up to cradle the back of the brunet's head. Before the kiss could deepen, Seifer pulled back and whispered, "You are the single most important thing in my life. My SeeD title, Hyperion, Chris and Greg... I would give all of it up for you. It's always been that way for me, ever since everyone else left and it was just you and me at the orphanage. Before that, even."
"You–"
"I don't have a name for it," Seifer interrupted. "I don't know if I love you or if I'm just fucking obsessed, but you are everything to me. And if you weren't as fucking amazing as you are at everything – if I didn't know I could trust you to take care of yourself – we would have some serious problems with the whole 'keeping on with the mission while the other one's in danger', because I am not losing you."
Squall just sort of stared at him for a moment, heart pounding at that declaration, then he leaned up and crushed his mouth to Seifer's, both hands burying themselves in Seifer's hair. Seifer returned the kiss with equal force, licking along Squall's mouth until the brunet opened it and let him in.
Then it was a duel of tongues, neither willing to submit to the other, until they had to pull apart and breathe, dizzy with the lack of oxygen.
"Stay with me tonight?" Squall whispered, breath ghosting over Seifer's lips and causing a shiver to run down his spine.
"You trust me in the same room with your journal?" Seifer whispered back, finding it impossible to forget the desired object. He would get Squall to let him–
"You can read it tomorrow," Squall promised, a note of surprise in his voice, as if he hadn't been aware he was going to say that until it had already come out.
Seifer coughed on a breath in shock. "What, seriously?"
Too-blue eyes slid towards one side for a moment, then back towards green, determination sparking behind the uncertainty. "Yes."
Seifer's eyes softened. "Thank you." He brushed a hand over the back of Squall's neck, overly pleased with himself when the younger boy shuddered. "Am I staying here tonight to do naughty things to you–?"
"Where Chris or Greg could hear?" Squall hissed, narrowing his eyes. "Are you insane?"
"Quite possibly." Seifer waggled his eyebrows. "I'm sure they've heard it all before. You know Kyla and Reg were an item for a while, right? Ed told me they were quite lou–"
"You're impossible," Squall informed him. "We're not having sex."
Seifer's lips lifted in inexplicable amusement at hearing that word from Squall – hearing it from Quistis would have almost been funnier, though. "I never said anything about sex, Squally. Some mutual pleas–"
"Stop right there," Squall ordered, narrowing his eyes.
Seifer's grin widened. "Come on, Squally. We're both growing boys, you know. Thinking about sex and masturbating is practically hard-wired in. There's nothing shameful about it."
Squall's eyes narrowed even further. "I can think of two poisons, off the top of my head, that have a detrimental effect on the body's production of testosterone. Give me a few minutes and I can probably remember a couple more."
Seifer paled and he held his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Right, nothing beyond kissing at Greg and Chris' place. Got it."
Squall stared at him for a long moment, distrustful, then nodded and slid backwards, out of Seifer's reach. "Come on. I'm tired."
Seifer sighed and followed Squall under the covers, more than a little surprised when his friend immediately cuddled against him after he'd hit the switch for the bedside lamp. "You're a cuddler?" he murmured, unable to help himself.
Squall muttered wordlessly into his chest, then said, "Yes. Now, shut up and let me sleep."
Seifer let out a quiet laugh and wrapped an arm comfortably around Squall's back, drawing him a little bit closer. Squall made a content noise in response. 'I can definitely get used to this,' the blond thought and he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
-0-
Reading ten years of almost daily journal entries turned out to be no mean feat, Seifer discovered, especially when Chris had plans to keep them busy all week, and Seifer and Squall had spying in the evenings. There was also the vague concern about what Semans had planned, because neither SeeD was of the opinion that the city boss would take their firm hand laying down. Spending time in the city with their adopted parents and Violet was rather like painting a giant target on all their backs, but they couldn't justify continuing to force the three civilians to remain indoors when Seifer and Squall were more than capable of protecting them.
Their second day out, Squall was the one to spot their tail. He and Seifer had remained at the back of the group – having been through the museum two or three times already with Christal kept anyone from questioning the position, especially with Violet more than willing to play the captive audience to Christal's rambling explanation for everything they came across – so he gave a quiet 'hm' that caught Seifer's attention from the display he was gazing at somewhat blankly, but went unnoticed by the rest of their group. 'Navy coat,' Squall signed in front of his body, keeping their tail from spotting the silent communication.
Seifer's left eyebrow raised and he gave the glass cases ahead of them a casual perusal, eyes sharpening when he took in the scruffy young man skulking along behind them, his street-worn clothing terribly out of place in the museum, which was usually populated by the upper class, for all that entrance was free. 'You're sure?' he signed back, also keeping his hands in front of his body. 'Street kids don't usually come in here, but it's not impossible.'
'He's been following us for the past hour.'
'We've already been in here for an hour?' Seifer signed back, his expression tragic.
Squall rolled his eyes. 'Do you want to take care of him, or should I?'
Seifer's expression brightened. 'Thanks for taking one for the team,' he replied before speeding up a bit and saying, "Chris, Greg, I need to use the big boy's room."
"The– What?" Squall sputtered.
Seifer turned back to him, grinning. "If I'd said the 'little boy's room', Chris might have got the impression that I needed a chaperone and sent Greg with me, but I know how much Greg likes the Dollet Empire rooms, so..."
"You're an idiot," Squall informed him.
"So you keep telling me," Seifer agreed before looking back at where the other three were watching them with smiles. "I'll catch up, promise."
Christal waved him off. "Go on. I trust you not to get lost in here." She turned to Squall as Seifer hurried off in the direction of the toilets, which just happened to be in the opposite direction from the tail. "Squall, stop sulking about back there and join the rest of us."
Squall sighed and sped up to join the other three as they entered the room dedicated to the Dollet Empire, which was, indeed, Gregory's favourite topic, and one he loved to wax poetic about.
Seifer had slipped through one of the 'employees only' doors on the way to the toilets and used the back hallways to slip in behind their tail. The young man didn't even see the blond until Seifer had slammed him against the glass of one of the wall displays with enough force to shake the glass, but not damage it. "The sooner you explain why you're following my family, the fewer fingers you lose," he whispered against the older teen's ear, one of his knives pressed against the other's throat.
Pale eyes widened with terror. "Some'un p-paid m-me!" he stuttered.
"One of the city boss' men, by any chance?" Seifer enquired in a voice dripping with the promise of violence.
The guy shook his head. "N-no! Bu-but the g-guy s-s-some-times does w-work f-fer 'im."
"So, I'm going to assume you're meeting this guy again? Tonight, maybe?" Seifer said, pressing his knife against the skin of the older teen's throat.
"Ye-yeah! I-I won't tell 'im n-nothin' 'bout y-you!"
Seifer chuckled darkly. "No, you'll tell him about seeing us. Then you'll pass on this message: The next person we see following our family will be sent back to Semans in pieces. Any further attempts to tail us will end in us following through on an earlier promise." He smiled pleasantly at his captive. "Think you can remember all that?"
"Yeah!"
Seifer nodded and stepped back, slipping his knife away casually enough that the other could see the very real weapon. Terror flashed in his eyes and Seifer considered his work done. "Have a good day," he said before turning and walking towards where his family had disappeared to. Behind him, the street kid ran for it.
Two days later, Seifer caught another tail. Squall was the one who took care of that, much older and more experienced, man, sending him back to Semans in pieces, as promised. That night, he'd commented, "It was almost a shame to have to kill him. He really was quite a good fight."
"Not as good as you, though," Seifer had replied from where he was hunched over their receiver for the bugs. "He didn't even nick you."
"I said he was quite good, not that he was SeeD-level. A third-year cadet could have taken him," Squall scoffed, then shot the receiver a dirty look. "Aren't they done yet?"
Seifer snorted. "Having sex takes time, Squally." His eyes lit up with an idea. "You know, we're not at Chris and Greg's place–"
"I will gut you if you don't stop," Squall snapped.
Seifer sighed with mock regret. "You're such a prude."
Squall's lips pressed into a thin line. "We're working, Seifer."
"Seems to me like we're sitting here, listening to a couple having sex in the room across the hall."
"I am not having this conversation with you."
Seifer laughed and glanced at the clock. Deciding there was time yet before they were done in the other room, he pushed away from the desk and joined Squall on the bed he'd staked out. When the brunet narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to order Seifer back to the receiver, Seifer grabbed the back of his head and pressed forwards for a kiss. Their tongues duelled for a moment, then Seifer relented, giving Squall control of the kiss, which the younger teen took, exploring Seifer's mouth with relentless swipes.
Eventually, Squall pulled back, brow furrowed. "What's the point of this?" he whispered.
Seifer brushed a lock of hair from Squall's eyes, smiling when the younger teen tilted his head towards the gesture. "I felt like it," he replied.
"You're always so impulsive."
"You love it, though."
Squall snorted. "It irritates me," he replied drily. When Seifer's expression fell, he added, "Impulsiveness has its place, and Hyne knows it's helped us out of some tight spots. But I don't care for that particular trait of yours."
Seifer laughed and tugged Squall into a hug. "Social skills, Squally."
Squall rolled his eyes even as he rested his head on Seifer's shoulder. "What about the receiver?"
"They'll be at it for another twenty minutes or so, judging by past experience. I'm getting my cuddle-time in before you take your nap."
"I don't nap."
"Oh, you so do. You're falling asleep right now, aren't you?"
Squall, who had closed his eyes and was halfway to a doze, huffed and buried his face in Seifer's shirt collar. "Shut up, you ass."
Seifer chuckled and carefully laid them both back on the bed, keeping Squall held tight in his arms. "Go on, then."
"The receiver–"
"Go to sleep, Squall."
Squall huffed again, but obediently relaxed against Seifer and dozed off. He only half-woke when Seifer shifted to return to the receiver, quickly falling back to sleep when Seifer ran a hand through his hair.
About an hour later, Seifer shook him awake. "They're gone."
Squall shook the sleep from his head and sat up. "Anything interesting?"
"Apparently Lady Knightlinger is pregnant."
Squall snorted. "No she's not."
Seifer grinned and helped pull Squall out of the bed. "That's what I said, but Lord Knightlinger certainly believes it. Should we bitch her out for ruining our investigation?"
"You think he intends to stop because of a baby?" Squall wondered, running a hand through his hair a few times, trying to get it to fall into some semblance of order. He'd considered cutting his hair on more than one occasion, the longer cut not really suited to a lifestyle of fighting and wearing disguises, but every time he mentioned it out loud, one of his friends would talk him down. Not that he really wanted to lose the familiar cut, really, it just got annoying sometimes. (Seifer had somewhat jokingly suggested, at one point, that he grow it out like Laguna had, so he could pull it back and out of his face. Squall had wasted no time in explaining exactly why Laguna's hairstyle was that of an idiot, starting with how much having your hair pulled hurt. Demonstrations on Seifer's person had been included.)
"Nope!" Seifer wrapped an arm around Squall's waist and swatted away any hands seeking to make him let go. "Come on. Even I'm starting to get tired, now."
"Why are you holding me?" Squall grumbled as they stepped out of their rented room and started for the lift.
"Because the hotel staff already think we're using that room for sex; nothing wrong with giving them a bit of proof."
Squall sighed and shook his head, but admitted that it would look a little less suspicious for two guys to be renting a room together if they played up their relationship a bit. By the time the lift had reached the main floor, Squall was resting his head on Seifer's shoulder again and trying to not fall back asleep.
Seifer winked at the giggling hostess as he led Squall passed her. She waved him on, then scampered over to talk to another hostess, who was seeing off another couple. "See, plan implemented."
"If someone stops us during one of Chris' trips and asks if we're gay, I'm denying it," Squall warned him. "I don't care if Chris and Greg would be okay with it, we are not sharing our relationship with them."
"They're going to find out," Seifer pointed out gently.
Squall knew that, but... "Not right now. Maybe in a couple months."
Seifer smiled at that and shook his head. "Okay, Squally. We'll wait."
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A/N: For all that the boys seem rather determined to kiss all the time, Squally's refusing all sex. I love and hate him for this.
I also love and hate the emotions talk. It needed to happen, and I'm so glad it's done, but I'm not sure how they turned out. *sigh*
Why is it that my Squall always threatens Seifer with bodily harm? (It was balls in Zyxt, and now it's guts. I feel like there was something in Sins, but I honestly can't remember. Not sure I care enough to re-read it and find out, either.)
Next chapter... I should really stop making assumptions about what's going to happen in coming chapters, shouldn't I?
Anyway, next chapter should, maybe, have a couple scenes with the other orphans. Maybe a chat with Ellone about using her powers on a group of SeeDs who may or may not be in a particularly dangerous situation at the time of her attempt. (Silly, fool girl.)
Maybe I'll finally get canon started. (Don't hold your breath.)
Oh, and Semans is done. No more from him. Not even a cameo, I hope. Same for Violet. (She was useful in getting Squally to admit his feelings, but that's really the only reason I created her. I'd intended Jessie for that, but she was being difficult.)
~Bats ^.^x
Next Chapter: Running Out of Days
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