Chapter 12
Influence - an ethereal fluid held to flow from the stars and to affect the actions of humans.
Evans ran up to him panicked. The other cadets were already running their PT tests. "You're two minutes late, Evans. Bad form." He made a note on his clipboard, shaking his head.
"Sorry, sorry." The boy protested. "I was in Balamb this morning and on my way back, they had a delivery truck blocking the road. I couldn't get by for forever."
Seifer raised his eyebrows at him.
"I ended up having to ditch my car in the Garden lot and jog back. It's been hell, coach."
Seifer laughed. "It's fine. I'll just tack the two minutes onto your end time."
"You're a saint." Evans smirked at him.
"Don't I know it? I hope you're not too tired, you're running a 10k today."
"I'm sure I'll still finish first." He shrugged.
"Get to it then, cadet." Seifer ordered.
He sighed and took a seat next to Leonhart. He was helping oversee the PT tests. Squall watched the blonde cadet run around the track with a glimmer in his eye.
That was odd.
He was up to something, and it somehow involved Cadet James Evans.
"Are you lusting after my student, Leonhart?"
Squall snorted. "Not at all."
"Then what the hell was that look for?" Seifer eyed him suspiciously.
"I'm just excited that I'm going to win." Squall smirked at him.
Seifer made little notes on his clipboard as one of his younger students laid down in the middle of the track like a starfish to catch his breath. "Win what?"
"The Game."
Seifer tensed up. "The game? The Quistis dating game thing? I thought you didn't care about that."
Squall shrugged. "Well, I didn't. But then Xu started bragging about how she was going to win. Rubbing it my face, ya know?" Squall glared. "Being a real shit about it. You know how she is."
Seifer nodded. "Yes. I do. And what does this have to do with Evans?"
"He's my pick." Squall nodded in his direction.
Seifer crumpled his evaluation forms slightly. He tried to control his breathing. James Evans was a candidate? He was friends with that kid. Evans was smart and funny and …not an asshole.
Squall was right. He could win with a candidate like Evans.
James was even a gunblader. And that was, without a doubt, Quistis' type.
But he couldn't- He couldn't be in the running because-
"You can't pick him." Seifer tore his eyes away from his potential competition.
"Why not?" Squall raised his eyebrows.
"Because he's a student. Trepe said 'No Students', remember?" Seifer insisted.
Squall shrugged. "He's a transfer. He's been a Galbadian SeeD before. I hardly think she meant him."
"She'll say no." Seifer shook his head. She would. She had integrity.
Squall laughed. "Wrong. She already met with him in Balamb this morning."
He had met with Trepe? That's why Evan was late?
That little fucker.
"No one's going to win this game, Leonhart. There's not a man alive that's good enough for Quistis Trepe."
Squall laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back into them. He crossed his ankles and relaxed as a breeze blew across the plains. "I'll win." He said confidently. "He'll ensure my victory. The kid is perfect for this. And Xu will be defeated." He smirked.
"I'm sure Trepe will have a horror story about him to tell us at dinner. He may seem like a 'cool guy'," Seifer did elaborate air quotes, and instantly regretted them when Squall raised his eyebrows in response, "But everyone turns into an idiot around her. I bet he fucked up this morning and that's why he was late. Delivery truck, my ass. Fucking liar."
Squall shook his head. "Nah, you're wrong again. I caught up with Quistis when she got back earlier. She said she's going out with him tonight."
Seifer froze.
She was seeing him again? Twice in one day?
Fuck.
Shit.
Oh no.
He was losing her. He was without a doubt going to lose her.
To a student! A dumb little shit that Seifer himself had thought would make a good friend.
He was happy when Squall changed the subject to the upcoming exam. The field test had just been announced to the faculty. They would be clearing out Red Dragons in the Centurian Mountains to fulfill a contract with Matron.
In five days, his students would be tested.
In five days, James Evans would undoubtedly become a SeeD.
He had to do something; he had to stop this.
He couldn't dismiss his students fast enough. He purposely miscounted Donovan's laps so he could hurry back to the school. Donovan was bragging the whole way back about how he beat his best time.
Whatever.
Leonhart tried to get him to come watch a football game at his place with the rest of the guys, but Seifer declined by bullshitting a story about being tired and rushed towards the faculty dorms.
He had a plan. He could stop this.
Quistis was in for the night of her life—because he was going to seduce the ever lovin' hell out of her. She would forget all about her silly date, and then he wouldn't have to worry about that asshole.
He tapped in her door code and rushed in. She poked her head out of the doorway to the restroom, mascara wand in hand. "Thanks for knocking." She said wryly. "Did we have plans?"
He stared at her intensely.
"Nothing concrete." He strolled across the room purposefully. She smiled and ducked back into the bathroom.
"Sorry, I'm in a little bit of a time crunch." She called out from the doorway. Seifer quickly shrugged his hoodie off and tossed it over the back of her couch. He ran his hands through his hair, messing it up a little.
"I'm thinking brownies." He called out to her, pulling his shirt halfway off of his body before deciding that would look desperate. He pulled it back down.
"What are you talking about?"
"Dinner. We should have brownies." He said, leaning in the bathroom doorway with his arm stretched lazily to the top of the doorframe- accentuating his muscular, but lean frame.
She was standing on her tip toes, leaned in close to the mirror applying lip gloss. Her eyes scrutinized it thoroughly. She rubbed her lips together and puckered. She met his eyes in the mirror and smiled. "That's hardly balanced."
Seifer smirked. "I like to live dangerously." He said huskily.
"Anyways, I can't do dinner tonight." She stepped past him, pulling the neck of her shirt carefully over her braided hair. Her black bra beneath was heavenly against her pale skin.
Seifer followed behind her, kicking off his shoes. "You're right, enough of the pretense. Let's get to it."
"What?" She whirled around.
Seifer had his shirt half off of his body, and his pants unbuttoned when he noticed her confused expression. He let his shirt hang around his neck with his arms unclothed as he dove further into his plans. "Let's have fun tonight, Quistis. You pick. We'll do whatever you want."
"I have a—"
He got on his knees in front of her. "I want you to make me grovel, Quis," He whispered up at her.
She licked her lips. "Yeah?"
He nodded, leaning forward to kiss her lower stomach. "What is your wish, Mistress?" He said against her skin, letting his hands crawl up her thighs.
"Hnnng…" She breathed out an airy moan, her eyes dilated.
Seifer didn't dare blink. He didn't want to break the spell. He just needed to get her panties off and get her to start issuing orders, and then he would be golden.
"I can't- I mean, I don't—" She was breathing in short bursts. "What makes you think I would want to make you grovel, Seifer. I'm not-"
"Do you own a pair of handcuffs, Quistis?" He bit his lip.
She looked away from him to her closet then looked back guiltily.
He smiled. "Let's put them to good use, doll."
He started to slide his hands up under her skirt, letting his fingertips drag across her ass and slip slightly beneath her panties. Her skirt inched up her hips as she quivered in front of him.
"Do you want to tie me up, Instructor?"
"I have- Mmmmm," she moaned unintelligibly as one fingertip brushed across her center. "Hyne—Fuck, Seifer. Yes." She admitted as she rolled her hips against his teasing fingertip.
Seifer gulped. This was a game for her and what she liked, but fuck if he wasn't stiff as hell over it.
She was pulling at his shoulders, and he was letting himself be handled and directed, and then she was shoving him back on her bed and quickly crossing the room to her closet.
He bounced slightly on the bed, pulled his forgotten shirt over his head, and then scooted back towards the headboard. "Instructor, this hardly seems like an appropriate punishment for injuring Leonhart," he began, diving into a fantasy that he had craved years ago as her student.
He heard the clink of metal and a second later she was straddling him and fussing with getting his wrists harnessed to the wrought iron of the frame. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. "The incident was clearly intentional." She rolled her hips harshly against his. "You need to learn some manners, Mister Almasy." She growled into his ear.
"Fuck yes." He hissed.
The mechanism locked into place, the metal digging into his wrist. The pain went straight to his dick, making him see stars a little.
Quistis started biting down his chest. He could smell her lip gloss as she smeared it down his torso—like strawberries. Her perfectly fixed hair was poking slightly out of her braid. She let her fingernails dig slightly against his skin before she started unzipping his pants. He whimpered as she brushed against his ready cock.
And then her phone started beeping loudly – an alarm. They both looked at the offensive device.
He could see the lustful haze dissipating. Oh no-
"Quistis," he said quietly, "silence it, please."
"Oh Hyne—I have to go, Seifer." She fumbled for the key and quickly unlocked the cuffs.
"No—no you don't." He begged.
"I have a date in thirty minutes—and ugh my hair. Fuck." She leapt up off the bed and ran back to the bathroom.
Seifer sighed and rubbed his wrists. He pulled his shirt back on disdainfully.
She rushed back in and started rummaging in her closet. "I'm sorry—I'm supposed to meet James." She buttoned her shirt up, slid her skirt down her hips, and pulled jeans on.
"Didn't you just meet up with him this morning?" He asked quietly.
She smiled at him. "Yeah, he was kind of surprising. He seems like a really great guy—loads better than the others have been."
Seifer nodded. There was something about the glimmer in her eye that made him stop fighting. She looked and sounded so hopeful. She looked vibrant—and happy.
And he couldn't keep doing this to her. He couldn't manipulate her into ignoring someone who might be what she was looking for.
She wasn't his.
He buttoned his pants back up. "He's a cool guy—I'm surprised none of the other thought to pick him sooner. He's a shoe-in for SeeD."
He kept his tone even.
"That's great—I must say, when I first realized Squall had picked at student, I was very wary." She pulled on sneakers. "But he's barely younger than me—and he has field experience, which made me feel like an exception could be made." She fussed over her braid and readjusted her shirt. "How do I look?"
Seifer smiled at her. He pulled her towards him with one arm. "You look beautiful, Quistis." He kissed her gently on her temple. "This is the guy," Seifer whispered in her ear. "I just know it."
"Thank you, Seifer." She pulled back and searched his eyes.
He placed as kiss on the corner of her mouth and then started gathering his discarded items. He pulled his shoes back on as she fretted in front of the mirror again.
"Good luck," he said with his hand poised to open the door.
And he meant it. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted the optimistic, radiant energy that she had cascading off of her to be a constant.
He walked out into the hallway.
He had always known that he would lose her. He knew that one day she would leave him.
But he had never realized that he would be happy to see her go. While he knew that he would miss her—that he would ache for her and break without her. It didn't matter. Quistis was someone that was worth making that sacrifice for. She was a shining example of a hero. She had fought her way across battlefields, through ranks. She had stayed strong through abandonment and war. She was kind and caring. And she deserved the absolute best that this world had to offer.
He could let her go.
Good luck, and goodbye.
Words: 2149
We'll continue onward. I know I'm an asshole for not updating in a decade, but my semester just lightened up in school, so—let's do the damn thing. 2-3 more chapters to go, I think. Also- how weird is it that that's the definition of Influence? What?
