Author's Note:
This chapter still follows Seifer. We'll be switching back to Quistis next chapter.
Camaraderie: comradeship; good-fellowship.
All four walls that made up the tiny hidden room were covered in photographs of Laguna, from floor to ceiling: Laguna standing on the side of the street, speaking with the citizens of Esthar; Laguna waving to people from various platforms at different public events throughout the years; Laguna doing everyday, mundane things, like gardening in the Palace's indoor courtyard.
A cluster of photographs on the far wall caught Seifer's eye and he rose to his feet, now that the ceiling was revealed to be of standard height. The section had caught his eye because Laguna appeared to be younger in those than he did in any of the other photos. He traipsed over to the section in question and stuck his finger under the corner of a particularly grainy black and white photograph, lifting the edge up slightly.
In the photo, Laguna was standing next to a young Ellone—she couldn't have been older than five—in a seemingly quaint village. The houses were obviously older—some of the shingles on the roof were missing and the white plaster underneath contrasting designs of dark wood appeared to be chipping off. Laguna was waving at whoever had taken the picture, bent over at the waist so that he could place his arm around Ellone's little shoulders.
Out of the corner of his eye, Seifer caught a glimpse of an official SeeD uniform, and he glanced over at the photo beside the one of Laguna and Ellone. The young man in the photo had chestnut-colored hair like Laguna—though it was shorter. However, he was looking down at the ground, which caused his hair to fall forward and hide his face.
Zell sidled up to Seifer and pointed at the photo, exclaiming, "Hey, that's Squall!"
Seifer raised an eyebrow and responded, "That's what Puberty Boy looks like in uniform?"
"Yo, you've seen him in it before. This looks like it was taken at the graduation ball. I don't remember anyone taking photos that night though…" Zell trailed off.
Seifer crossed his arms as he inspected the photo. "He looks like he's leavin' the ballroom. Who would've taken this?"
"This Bywater guy, maybe?" Zell suggested.
"Nah, the angle is from above, meaning they were probably standing on the second floor. How would Bywater have gotten into Garden?"
Zell shrugged. "Seems like this guy's pretty good at being in places he shouldn't be. I wouldn't put it past him. Better question is, why is he so obsessed with Laguna?"
At that, Seifer turned around and swept his gaze across the room, taking in all the pictures of said President. A minute passed before he sighed and mumbled, "That's a damn good question. There's gotta be somethin' in here that'll give us a clue."
Zell jumped in place as if he'd gotten an electric shock, and held his finger up in the air. "Wait! The books on the shelf! Both of them mentioned Laguna's time in the war. You've seen him, right? How old is this Marcus guy?"
"I don't know what Marcus fuckin' looks like. It was his neighbor that told us Marcus had moved out. Pretty damn suspicious though, considering it looks more like Marcus jumped ship," Seifer replied. A second later, he added, "Qui—Trepe said she didn't believe the guy though, and went to check out the neighbors' nameplates. Never looked into 'em."
Zell placed his hands on his hips and tapped his foot on the floor. "Hmm…"
While Zell was lost in thought, Seifer moved towards the door that led back out into the study. "Keep lookin' around in here. I'm gonna run back out into the hall and do a quick search on both of the neighbors. Be right back."
The martial artist nodded and crouched, inspecting another cluster of photographs as Seifer bent over and stepped back into the previous room. He hurried back towards the front door and yanked it open.
As he stood in the open doorway, he scanned the hall to ensure he was alone. When he saw that the coast was clear, he tried to remember how far Marcus' "neighbor" had said he'd lived down the hall.
...I live two units down so I've talked to him from time to time… the man's voice echoed throughout Seifer's mind.
When he'd spoken to them, Quistis and Seifer had been leaning against the wall beside the door, facing towards the elevator, which was now to Seifer's right. The guy had pointed past them, to the two units at the left end of the hall.
Left it is, then, Seifer thought.
Once he was standing in between the units that were two doors down, he pulled out his phone and opened the same database that Quistis had been using at the restaurant they'd stopped at for lunch, nearly five days ago.
Fuck, can't believe it's been that long already.
He paced back and forth in a small arc as he waited for the database to boot up, and when it was finally finished, he clicked on the search field and entered in the name on the plate to his left.
The only 'Wilson' who lived in the same building was a Teresa Wilson, so it was definitely not that unit. The unit on the right was labeled 'Parker' and that was slightly more complicated. According to the database, the Parkers were a family of four: two dads, a teenage son, and a younger daughter.
Seifer meandered over to the little outcropping underneath the window and leaned against it as he dug a little further into the history of Mr. Parker and Mr. Parker. According to the database, one of the Mr. Parkers had been born here in Esthar, and hadn't gone anywhere since. He worked here, he obviously lived here, and he was a firm supporter of the Esthar Gespers, the professional Triple Triad team.
The other Mr. Parker was an expatriate from Dollet. He'd served in the Dolletian Army, which raised a few red flags in Seifer's memory, until he remembered that Laguna had served in the Galbadian Army. Plus, this Mr. Parker was about fifteen years younger than Laguna. The President had been retired for four years already by the time Mr. Parker enlisted, so they likely had never crossed paths.
With that knowledge in mind, Seifer lowered his phone with a sigh, staring at the Parkers' front door in irritation. He shouldn't have expected it to be so easy, but he wouldn't have complained if it had been.
A stroke of luck would've come in handy right about now.
He pushed off of the windowsill and traipsed back to Bywater's condo, locking the door behind him once more. As he made his way back to the study, he called out, "You found anything yet, Chicken-wuss?"
A groan filtered out into the hallway and Zell shouted back, "I thought you were done with that, man?"
Seifer chuckled as he rounded the corner into the room and spotted Zell sitting cross-legged on the floor by the bookshelf. He leaned against the doorframe and said, "I take it you found somethin'?"
"Yeah, c'mere," Zell beckoned.
Seifer narrowed his eyes at the other blond as he trekked into the room, using his boots to nudge aside papers on the floor, before he crouched down next to Zell. Is everyone going to keep callin' me over like that?
"Look at this," Zell instructed, placing his finger on the photograph in the book of Laguna, Kiros, and Ward by a blue cave with shimmery walls.
"What the hell am I lookin' at, exactly?" Seifer pressed.
"According to this article, Laguna and the gang kind of, accidentally, infiltrated this Estharian excavation site. This book is Estharian history, right?"
"I think it's just a history on Pres himself," Seifer replied.
"Oh, well, either way. So in the book, it says that a handful of Estharian soldiers who'd been posted there on guard, died that day. Obviously because Laguna and them were like, infiltrating it, right?"
"Yeah, I get that. You gonna get to the point sometime today, Chicken-wuss?" Seifer taunted.
Zell glared up at Seifer before he continued moving his finger along the lines of text. "Says here, 'In remembrance of the Estharian soldiers who died in the line of duty: Clark Fabul, Ronan Bywater, and Lenny Pritchard.'"
"Woah, Bywater?" Seifer echoed, ripping the book out of Zell's hands.
The martial artist sighed in defeat. He stood up and brushed off the backs of his pants. "Yeah, Bywater. That's why I wanted you to look at it! How old did you say Marcus was again?"
Irritated at having to repeat himself yet again, Seifer snapped, "I didn't. Never saw Marcus. Saw his neighbor."
"Oh, right. Let me borrow your phone."
At the sudden switch in topic, Seifer glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have your own?"
"It's dead," Zell replied.
With an exasperated sigh, Seifer pulled his phone out of his jacket's inner pocket and tossed it over to Zell. He continued to read the article as Zell's fingers flew across the keyboard. The room fell silent as they both concentrated on their individual tasks, until Zell shouted, "A-ha! Found him."
"Who, Marcus?" Seifer asked, his head shooting up to look at Zell.
"No, but I found Ronan Bywater. Obviously he was a citizen at one point, if he was in the Estharian Army."
"Lemme see," Seifer demanded. Zell handed the phone over and the screen showed a man who would forever be in his thirties. He quickly scrolled through the information sheet and when he saw who was listed under 'next of kin', he shook his head in disbelief.
"Well shit. Marcus is Ronan Bywater's son," Seifer stated.
Zell nodded, his expression neutral. "Makes sense. That means that Laguna killed Marcus' dad at the excavation site, like twenty years ago. Which then explains the creepy pictures in that room over there."
"Yeah but...where the hell is Marcus, then?" Seifer asked, frustration lacing his words.
"You tried looking up Marcus in this, yet?" Zell questioned.
Seifer nodded and said, "Trepe did. That's how she found the address to this condo. There's no picture in the database though, for whatever fuckin' reason."
Zell stroked his chin and hummed as he thought. Eventually, after a minute or so, he suggested, "I think we need to find out what Marcus looks like."
"No shit, Captain Obvious. How?" Seifer retorted.
Zell threw his hands up in the air and replied, "I dunno, man! Just tryin' to think of ideas! There's gotta be at least one picture of the guy in his own house."
Seifer placed the book back on the shelf and turned around, heading back for the living room. "Condo, Zell. It's a condo, not a house. Big difference."
Zell lagged behind Seifer, right on the other man's heels, and pointed at his retreating back in excitement. "Hey, you called me Zell!"
"Thanks for pointing that out, Chicken-wuss. Never again," Seifer commented as they wandered into the kitchen.
"Aw, come on, man!"
Seifer started pulling out kitchen drawers and opening cabinets—not exactly in tactful silence—looking for any sort of hint or clue at Marcus' appearance. He had a suspicious feeling that the 'neighbor' might be the very guy they were looking for, but he couldn't say that for certain without concrete evidence. Eventually, he left everything in the kitchen in absolute disarray as he wandered back over to the living room. "No pictures on the fridge, either. There's no way in hell we're gonna find anything of value in this clusterfuck."
Zell pointed at the hall on the opposite side of the room and asked, "What about over there?"
"Didn't you check over there earlier, when I asked you to?"
"Well, no, you said check out that side of this room. I haven't gone down that hall yet," replied Zell.
"For fuck's sake. He could've been hiding out over here and ambushed us, or somethin'!" Seifer reprimanded.
Zell clenched his fists and tensed up, sneering at Seifer as he defensively replied, "I was out here the whole time! There's no one else in here!"
"Doesn't the SeeD manual say that rule number five or whatever, is to make sure the perimeter is secure?" Seifer sniped as he brushed past Zell and headed down the opposite hallway.
"I bet you've never even read the rulebook!" Zell retorted as he chased after Seifer.
Without looking over his shoulder at the martial artist, Seifer spat, "Yeah, because I wasn't ever a SeeD, dickwad."
Sounding thoroughly chagrined, Zell replied, "Oh right, sorry bro."
Seifer made a noise in his throat that sounded like a mixture of severe disgust and annoyance. As they made their way to the end of the hall—in silence, much to Seifer's relief—they spotted two doors that stood perpendicular to each other.
Seifer beelined for the one straight ahead, pointing to the one on the left as he instructed, "You, take this one."
"Tch, just call me Zell, man! 'You' is even more insulting than Chicken-wuss," Zell threw back.
"Fine. Chicken-wuss, take this one," Seifer deadpanned as he slid up to the other door.
"Whatever, man," Zell mumbled, bringing his fist up in front of his face as he grabbed the handle with his other hand.
Seifer mirrored his action, wrapping his fingers around the cold metal handle of his assigned door. He glanced back at Zell who met his gaze and they nodded at each other, shoving their doors open simultaneously.
The doors thudded against the walls behind them, but other than the loud thump, no other sounds came back to them. Seifer flicked the light switch, and a lamp on the opposite end of the room turned on, flooding what was apparently the bedroom with a soft glow. To his surprise, this appeared to be the only room in the entire condo that didn't look like a tornado had blown through.
The bed was neatly made, with the covers tucked in underneath the mattress. Seifer recognized it as the trademark military standard fold, and surmised that since Ronan had been in the Estharian Army, he'd likely held Marcus to the same level of cleanliness.
Why the fuck is the rest of the house such a shitstorm, then?
He moved farther into the room, trailing his fingers along the dresser that sat just past the door span. When he lifted his fingertips, there was a slight coating of dust on them, which would imply that Marcus didn't clean often, or that he hadn't slept here in at least a week.
Moving his hand lower, he hooked his fingers underneath the drawer pull and tugged it open, revealing piles of clothing—folded just as neatly as the bedsheets. He rifled through them, not particularly caring to keep things in perfect order, since it didn't seem like Marcus would be coming back to his condo any time soon.
Grunting when nothing of interest seemed to pop up, he turned away from the dresser and made his way over to the nightstand. After plopping down on top of the comforter, he wrenched the top drawer open first. People usually stuffed their most important belongings in the top drawer, didn't they?
There was nothing in the top drawer except for a reading glasses case and, frustrated, Seifer shoved the drawer shut, causing the nightstand to rattle against the wall behind it. With a sharp exhale, he pulled open the bottom drawer and was met with utter chaos again.
"Fuck me," he muttered, sifting through the haphazard pile of papers that were nearly spilling over onto the floor. How Marcus had managed to get the drawer shut in the first place, baffled Seifer.
Zell walked into the room then and announced, "The other door led to the bathroom. Nothin' but lots of toilet paper in there. D'you find anything?"
Seifer sighed and wrapped his hands around as many papers as he could fit in his grasp, subsequently throwing the pile over his shoulder onto the bed behind him. "Here. Start going through this shit."
"Holy...I'm starting to hate this guy already," Zell commented.
"I think I'm past hate. I fuckin' wanna strangle this dick," Seifer sneered.
Zell laughed and came around to the other side of the bed, reaching over to stack sheets of paper into neat piles so that he could sort through them. Seifer forewent the whole 'organizing process' and just started pulling out individual pieces with no rhyme or reason, reading them to determine whether they were of importance. If they weren't, they were tossed on to the floor.
So far, every single piece of paper was landing on the carpet.
Short of about five minutes later, Zell piped up and said, "Nothing in this pile."
Seifer straightened and replied, "I'm almost to the bottom of this junk heap. I haven't seen anything worth bringin' back. Not even a Girl Next Door."
"You read those?"
"You can't read girly mags, idiot."
"What about the articles?"
Seifer turned and glared at his moronic partner.
"Ugh, you know what I meant," Zell groaned.
Seifer leaned over and went back to shuffling around papers. "...No, I don't read those. Why bother, when you can go out and find a real woman?" Seifer countered.
As soon as the words left him, a flashback of the night he'd seen Quistis at the bar in Balamb hit him. That slinky red number she'd been wearing, paired with the heels she'd had on that made her legs seem to stretch on for miles...those legs...
Zell scoffed and the sound pulled Seifer out of his reverie. He felt the mattress sink a little bit and turned to see that Zell had sat down on the opposite edge of the bed. He stared at the martial artist as he continued to move papers aside in the drawer, until his fingertips bumped up against the spine of a small, leather-bound book.
"Oh? Maybe he might have a girly mag in here after all," Seifer joked, pulling the book out from underneath a stack of papers.
Definitely not a girly mag.
The book had no title on the cover, just intricate gold swirls and details that ran along the edge of the front panel. Nothing was written on the spine or the back cover either, so Seifer popped the volume open, laying it flat against his hand. It appeared to be a journal of some kind, and the entries were dated about a month apart.
'June 15th. Went to the Presidential Palace again today, but no sign of Laguna. Saw a bunch of staff members bringing out folding chairs and a long table. Maybe something's going on?'
'June 17th. Something is definitely going on. Adel Memorial Week is coming up next week. Maybe there's an event scheduled? That might be the perfect time.'
'June 21st. Tomorrow kicks off the start of Memorial Week. Apparently there's a parade after Laguna gives some speech, followed by fireworks. I remember Dad talking about Memorial Week a lot. Guess Loire likes to pull out all the stops for the parade and the firework show. Fireworks have loud noises. That might be perfect.'
'June 22nd. Found out this morning from a source that Laguna's son, Squall, who is coincidentally the Commander of Balamb Garden's SeeDs, will be in town for the festivities. Maybe...maybe instead of Laguna...Squall will do.'
"...Shit," Seifer muttered.
Zell shot up off the bed and raced over to stand in front of Seifer, leaning down into Seifer's face as he tried to read what the book said. Seifer planted his hand on Zell's chest and shoved, hard, causing the martial artist to stumble backwards.
"My face—get out of it," Seifer chided, tossing the journal at Zell.
That's what the book appeared to be anyway, a journal. Marcus Bywater's journal. In turn, Marcus Bywater's "neighbor" appeared to be Marcus Bywater. The same guy who'd shot Squall because Squall's father, Laguna, killed Marcus' dad.
Seriously. What a clusterfuck. Well, now we know for sure that he shot Squall on purpose. Puberty Boy ain't gonna be happy to hear that bit of news.
Seifer looked up at Zell and watched the other man read the diary, his lips moving as he mouthed the words to himself. He chuckled under his breath as he waited for him to finish reading. Little Chicken-wuss still needs to read aloud, heh. Wonder if he'll punch me if I point that out?
Probably, he finished thinking with a smirk.
Finally, Zell snapped the book shut and looked at Seifer, his eyes wide. "We gotta head back and tell Squall!"
"Sure do. Grab the book from the study that mentioned this guy's dad. Could come in handy as evidence," Seifer instructed as he rose to his feet and shuffled out into the hallway.
"Why don't you grab it?" Zell questioned, right on Seifer's heels.
"Because, I just told you to do it. Just go get it, so we can leave!"
"Tch, fine."
Zell ran past Seifer down to the other end of the condo and disappeared into the study. Seifer watched him go, the spikes of his ridiculous hair-do bouncing with every step. He laughed at the sight and wandered over to the front door.
With a grin on his face, Seifer called out over his shoulder, "Hurry up, Chicken-wuss! Let's go tell the Commander!"
About a half an hour later, Seifer and Zell waltzed in through the sliding double glass doors of the Palace's front lobby. After nodding to the receptionist who waved them past, they climbed up to the second floor and hurried down the hall to the conference room.
Nearly half the day had gone by and it was impossible to know whether Squall had waited for them the entire time. Knowing the Commander's work ethic though, Seifer figured it was a good place to check first.
Zell pushed open the door and barged into the room, shouting, "Squall, guess what we—hey, he's not in here."
Seifer paused in the doorway behind Zell, retracing his steps back out into the hallway. "Hm, where oh where could Puberty Boy have gone?"
"Are you guys looking for Squall?"
Seifer and Zell whirled to their right, spotting Rinoa approaching them with her arms cradling her baby bump. She had a slight smile on her face when she saw them frozen in the hallway and came to a stop, rocking back on her heels.
"If you are, he's not here. He and Laguna went out to lunch about a half hour ago," she finished.
"Lunch? It's like two in the afternoon!" Zell exclaimed.
Rinoa shrugged and replied, "I guess Laguna eats lunch late? He should be back soon-ish."
Seifer groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. He just wanted to pass on the info to Mr. Leader and head back to see how Quistis was doing. This just prolonged his absence from her, and it was making him antsy. He couldn't exactly say that though, so he just shifted in place.
Rinoa tilted her head at Zell and slyly suggested, "Zell, I hear they have mini hot dogs in the kitchen…"
As soon as she mentioned "hot dogs", Zell's face lit up and a wide, slightly creepy grin spread out across his face. "Awww YEAH! I'll catch up with you later, bro!"
With that, he sprinted past them back towards the stairs. Seifer crossed his arms and shook his head at the martial artist's unnatural obsession with hot dogs. "I don't know how he eats those things all the fuckin' time. It's disgusting."
Rinoa giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. "Neither do I. But I do actually think that they have better hot dogs here than they do at Garden."
"Don't let him hear you say that," Seifer replied, which elicited another giggle from her.
Her laughter faded quickly, throwing them both into an uncomfortable moment of silence. Rinoa prompted Seifer to join her by gesturing to the couches in the sitting area with her head, and they both wandered over to sit down on the plush, inviting piece of furniture.
Seifer reached his arm back, propping it up on the rear of the couch. After pulling his leg up and resting his ankle on his knee, he glanced at Rinoa out of the corner of his eye. She'd lifted her feet out of her flat shoes and tucked them underneath her body, sinking into the couch in obvious comfort. He was somewhat jealous of the fact that pregnant women seemed to be able to do anything they wanted, and people just fawned over them because...they were pregnant.
I wonder how Quistis would act if she were pregnant. She'd probably still be going on missions and kickin' some serious ass.
Wait, the fuck?!
He scrunched up his face as he tried to chase that train of thought away, completely unsure where it even came from in the first place. They'd barely slept together, for Hyne's sake. It's not like he wanted her to be pregnant.
Fuck no, I don't!
As if she sensed his inner turmoil, Rinoa twisted her body around and faced Seifer, though she was still slightly angled away from him. Noticing her movement, he turned his head to the side and stared at her, waiting for her to say something. Normally, when someone faced another person, they were getting ready to speak. He especially knew that to be true with Rinoa—he knew that face.
It was her 'you will answer me' face.
Finally, when she spoke, he braced himself for what he expected to be an awkward conversation.
"So...you and Quisty, huh?"
Seifer lowered his eyebrows and asked, "She tell you that?"
Rinoa waved her hands in the air and replied, "No no no, she didn't. You know Quisty. She's hardly the first one to admit personal stuff. I um, I overheard the doctor telling Squall about her condition earlier. She'd mentioned that you were in Quistis' room this morning."
"Yeah, I was assigned to keep an eye on her," Seifer offered as an explanation, though he knew Rinoa wouldn't ever buy that.
True to form, Rinoa raised an eyebrow at him and teased, "Keep an eye on her, huh? Anywhere in particular?"
With a wry smile, he thought, Have you seen her legs?
Contrary to his inner monologue, he rolled his eyes and said, "Just spit it out. I know what you really wanna ask."
Rinoa let out an eep—she was talking to Selphie way too much—and faced him head-on. Her hands were clenched tightly in her lap and she bounced in her seat. "Are you guys like, together?"
"Shit, what is this? An interrogation session?" he retorted, though he wasn't actually upset. He laced his fingers together and propped them behind his head, waiting for Rinoa to reply.
"No, I just...if you two are together, like, together together, then I'm happy for you! Quistis needs someone in her life. I think you guys are perfect for each other," she reassured.
"Perfect, huh?"
It was nice of her to say. Before he'd heard the words come out of Rinoa's mouth, he never would've phrased it quite that way. Sure, he'd all but admitted to Quistis' face that he'd had a thing for her since they were kids but...neither one of them had actually said it in a straightforward manner. Meaning, neither one of them had said, "Hey, I like you."
But he knew that she knew how he felt.
Now that his mind was filled with thoughts of Quistis and the whole...situation between them, or whatever the hell it was, he was questioning how she really felt about him. Obviously she'd given in to him last night, but was that all it was? Was she just...giving in to the heat of the moment? Or deep down, did she actually give a shit about him?
Fuck, this is what I get for talking to a girl about feelings—does shit to your brain.
Rinoa studied Seifer intently with her little doe eyes and he nearly groaned aloud at her persistence. Finally, he dropped his hands into his lap and admitted, "We haven't really talked about the uh, 'logistics' of whatever it was that happened between us."
"So you guys are together!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands together in glee.
"That would be what you got outta that," Seifer chuckled.
Rinoa reached out and placed her hand on Seifer's forearm, causing her to glance down at the pale, slender fingers that rested on his skin. When he looked up and met her warm, understanding eyes, she smiled at him: a genuine, gentle, equally as warm smile.
"I'm happy for you, Seifer," she said quietly.
Not knowing what to say to that, he nodded in acceptance and that was when the sound of heavy boots thudding on carpet reached them. They both turned sharply to face the owner of said heavy boots, and Squall stood across from them, staring at them with an empty expression.
Rinoa pulled away from Seifer and slipped her feet back into her shoes, rising and shuffling over to her Knight. She placed a soft kiss on Squall's cheek and headed back down the hall; Seifer assumed she was heading back to their room.
Squall watched her walk away and after a moment, he turned back to Seifer. With a quick jerk of his head, he then headed for the conference room.
Seifer rose to his feet with a grunt and followed after the Commander, pulling his phone out and sending a quick text to Zell: "Get your ass up here, Chicken-wuss! Sorry, I mean dickwad. Bring the books."
He chuckled at his own offensive sense of humor and tucked his phone back into his pocket. Once Squall opened the door to the conference room and ambled inside, Seifer trailed after him and plopped down into the seat beside him. The Commander remained standing with his arms crossed as they waited for Zell to arrive.
Finally, a couple of minutes later, the door flew open and Zell crashed into the room, a miniature hot dog dangling out of his mouth. "Schfry, I fvas—" he began, but Squall interrupted him.
"Zell, sit, and finish chewing. Seifer, you can start. What'd you guys find at the condo?"
Seifer adjusted himself in his seat and cleared his throat. "A whole lotta shit," he replied, and glanced over at Zell. "Did you bring the books?"
Zell nodded fervently and reached behind him. He grabbed the books and slid them over to Squall, who caught them easily and lifted up the first book—the history one.
The brunet flipped through it and raised an eyebrow when he noticed that it was a biography of Laguna. "Why am I looking through this?"
Seifer tilted his chin up and instructed, "Page one-hundred and five, or somethin' like that, has a section about Laguna's time in the war. Specifically, the part about the Estharian excavation site."
Squall nodded and flipped to the page Seifer suggested, only to turn back a few pages, then forward a few more. He seemed to have found the right page, because his forehead creased up as he concentrated on reading. After a few minutes, he finished and glanced at both of them, before he pulled the other book over to him.
This time while he read, he narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, eventually shutting the book with a thud. With a heavy hand, he placed the book back down on the table and kept his eyes trained on the glazed surface as he inhaled loudly. A second or two later, he glared up at Seifer and demanded, "What is this?"
"Mr. Shooter-Man's dear diary," he replied sarcastically.
"Seifer…" Squall trailed off in a warning.
"Alright, alright. Really though, it's Marcus Bywater's journal, or some shit."
"And he's...Ronan Bywater's son, I'm assuming? That's why you brought the biography, right?" Squall clarified.
Zell piped up then and said, "Yep! Turns out, according to Seifer, Marcus was the guy in the hallway who told him that Marcus had moved. Also, Marcus is the guy who shot you, because he's one and the same."
Squall blinked at Zell, obviously confused at the martial artist's convoluted explanation. Seifer sighed and tried again. "So the guy who originally told Trepe and I that Marcus had moved, is Marcus. Marcus, aka 'neighbor guy', is also the guy who put that chunk of lead in your shoulder."
"Marcus Bywater, son of Ronan Bywater, shot me?" Squall echoed.
Seifer and Zell nodded in tandem, and Squall continued. "Why?"
"Pres killed Ronan Bywater at the excavation site," Seifer explained.
Squall nodded at that and after a couple of seconds of gazing down at the carpet, he pivoted on his heel and grabbed the file folder from the board's lip. Quickly, he sifted through it and pulled out a specific sheet of paper, slapping it down onto the table once he had it pinched between his fingers.
"The death threat. Read it again," Squall stated.
Seifer pulled it over to him and hastily read over it, his eyes lingering on the line that read, "For the crime you committed against my family, I will respond in kind...Now would be a good time to say goodbye to those you love."
"His dad. Laguna's son—you," Seifer noted as he glanced up at Squall, meeting his gaze.
Zell reached over the table and yanked the death threat out from under Seifer's fingers, scanning it over for the first time. When he made the connection, he jolted in his seat, causing the chair to rock backwards for a brief moment.
"Squall! You!" he shouted.
Seifer and Squall rolled their eyes and Seifer sniped, "Yes, Chicken-wuss. Squall."
"Hey, this is the first time I've read this, okay?" Zell replied defensively.
"What's the game plan, Mr. Leader?" Seifer asked Squall, choosing not to respond to Zell.
Squall crossed his arms and turned his head to the side, deep in thought. After about a minute, he faced them again. "Quistis should be back tomorrow. I want her input on this. For now, our goal is to find out where this guy might've gone. Hunt him down. We're going after him."
Seifer and Zell nodded, rising to their feet and heading for the door like they had this morning. When they were back out in the hallway and passing through the sitting area, Zell piped up and said, "See you tomorrow, then?"
Seifer, who hadn't even paused and just kept walking towards Quistis' room, waved his hand in the air in dismissal. He heard Zell grunt behind him and an amused grin teased at the corner of his lips. Teasing him never got old.
Finally, he came to a stop in front of Quistis' door and rapped his knuckles against it—softly, in case she was sleeping or something. It opened almost immediately and her crystal-clear, pale blue eyes widened in surprise when she saw who it was. "Seifer? You're back already?"
"Yeah. Got lucky with a clue," he baited, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"A clue?! Get inside," she replied, reaching out and pulling him into the room by the lapels of his jacket.
"If you wanted to hop in between the sheets with me, all you had to do was ask," Seifer teased, shrugging out of his coat.
"That's not why, Seifer," she reprimanded with a roll of her eyes. She padded back over to the bed and sat down on it, patting the spot in front of her as she finished with, "Tell me what you found."
"All you think about is work," he scoffed, though he acquiesced to her request and plopped down onto the bed, stretching out in front of her like a cat on its side. He propped himself up on his elbow and gazed up at her, purposefully biding his time to build the anticipation.
She stared down at him expectantly, and when he still hadn't spoken after a few seconds, she prompted him with an insistent wave of her hand and he chuckled under his breath at her predictable impatience.
When it came to the job, nothing could come between Quistis and her goal.
"Since you asked so nicely...We found out who the shooter was," he explained.
"You did?! That was fast," she commented.
"Well, like I said, stroke of luck. We went back to Bywater's condo and found a secret door behind a bookshelf—which in and of itself is shady as fuck. Led to a room with a ton of pictures of Pres, and a few of Squall.
"Turns out, Pres killed Bywater's dad years ago. He wanted revenge and lo and behold, he decided to take a shot at Squall."
"In return for Laguna killing his father?" Quistis clarified.
Seifer grunted in affirmation and Quistis lifted her hand to her face, placing her chin against her knuckles as she mulled over what Seifer had just told her. "So where did Bywater go then? After we failed to catch him?"
With a sigh, he replied, "You would say it that way. After we 'attempted to apprehend the suspect'...I dunno. Puberty Boy said that's what we gotta find out next, but he wants to wait until you're cleared to return to the land of the living—which is tomorrow, apparently."
Quistis nodded, still obviously deep in thought. Deciding he was done with this particular topic, Seifer reached out and grazed his fingertips along her forearm, causing her eyes to shoot up towards his. She furrowed her eyebrows in a silent question and he pulled her arm closer, planting soft kisses along her skin.
She smiled briefly at the gesture and quietly asked, "Wasn't it just this morning that the doctor reprimanded you for making me do...'strenuous activities'?"
He hummed "mmhm" against her skin, and snaked his tongue out to lightly lick the underside of her wrist. She inhaled a sharp breath and when he glanced up at her reaction, he nearly came undone at the sight that greeted him.
Quistis' cheeks were flushed and her lips were slightly parted as she watched him with sultry, half-lidded eyes. When he repeated the motion, she gasped again and he took that as a yes, climbing to his knees and wrapping his arm around her back, laying her down on top of the bed.
"Seifer...where did this come from?" she whispered.
He stared at her intently for a second before leaning down and nuzzling the side of her neck, breathing in the scent that was uniquely hers. It was fruity, but not overly so. Just feminine enough with a touch of...something else, that kept it from being overwhelming.
So, this is what Heaven smells like...peaches and...vanilla, or something like that...
Along her delicate skin, he murmured, "I was gone for like half the day. Didn't you miss me?"
She looped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through the short strands of his hair. "What would you do if I said I didn't?"
At that, he pulled back and mockingly glared at her with his brows pinched together over his bright eyes. "I'd make sure you did miss me," he threatened in a low voice.
A seductive smile slowly spread across her face and with a twinkle in her eye, she replied, "In that case...no. I didn't miss you."
A/N:
First of all, Layla Evercrest is on vacay so many thanks to Strings805 for stepping in to beta this chapter! And as always, thanks to my usual beta, Arenoptara.
Thanks to AJ Maxima, KingRamses, Ally Todd, enigmalace, Yadda Wadda BaddaBoom, Strings805, and IrishPrincess1987 for the lovely reviews!
To Guest:
Hello again! I was just wondering if you had an account for the pure sake of replying to your wonderful reviews personally, rather than at the end of chapters. Whatever you prefer, though!
I've always seen Seifer as the type of personality who very much enjoys shock value. I mean, it's such a Seifer thing, lol. But yes, your reasoning for them being the perfect couple is much how I see them as well. It's been a long time since the war and though I'd like to think he's had time to work through 'some' issues, I'd imagine he hasn't worked through them all. So yes, he definitely has some lingering things he needs to work through. Good thing he's got Quistis now, eh?
I've updated my profile with my new update schedule for the next few months. I'm taking three classes in the fall and things will be tough, as far as juggling everything. Also, yesterday marked the first chapter of Aftermath—my Seifer!centric submission piece for The Successor challenge—going live. If you guys have some free time, I'd love for you all to check it out! It should be towards the top in the M-rated main page of our fandom ;)
See you guys next chapter!