Chapter 18: Rainbows and Glitter Dust
"There's a thunderous sound in the distance," Zell intoned, waving his hands for effect. "Boom! Boom! Boom! A shadow moves between the trees."
"ATTACK!"
"Fujin!" Zell gave a dramatic sigh. "You don't even know what it is yet."
"ATTACK!"
"Ugh! Fine. Roll. It's your funeral. And — oh my God! Knock it off, you two!"
Seifer had his arm slung over Quistis's shoulders and had been pivoting more and more into her as the game went on. He kissed her temple and nuzzled his nose in her hair. "Bug off, Chicken Wuss. You knew what you were getting yourself into when you invited us."
"Honestly, I'm not sure that I did," Zell grumbled.
Seifer grabbed Quistis's hand. "Do you want us to go? Because I'd kind of like to get out of here and—"
"Sweet Hyne! Stop! I don't want to know what you'd like to do!" Zell clapped both hands over his ears. "Fujin. For the love of all that is holy. Roll."
Quistis stifled a laugh as Seifer relaxed back into his seat next to her and Fujin cast her dice. This was their third time now coming to game night, and while she didn't entirely understand all the rules and mechanics of the game, she had to admit that it was an enjoyable way to pass an evening. With Zell's help, she'd crafted a character for herself — a burly beastman named Glorg who was traveling through the Forest of Illusion to avenge the death of his loyal wolf companion. She had an entire backstory penned for Glorg in one of her notebooks and had even sketched out a quick drawing, too.
Glorg was a beastman of few words. A tortured, sensitive soul.
Seifer's character, a faerie named Twink, was the opposite. Twink had taken to riding on Glorg's shoulder everywhere they went, cracking ribald jokes and generally making a nuisance of herself.
Fujin's attack landed, resulting in the monster coming down upon the whole party.
A groan went up from everyone except Seifer, who only ever bothered to bring his character into battles to defend Glorg.
He hated the mechanics of the game and particularly objected to the cutesy names of all the spells.
He'd nearly rolled his eyes out of his head when Quistis decided to name her two new blue magic spells after Fujin's two favorite attacks — Glitter Dust and Rainbow.
"You can't seriously tell me that you're going to look a t-rexaur in the eye and then cast freaking 'rainbow' on it," he'd said when she told him.
Quistis had laughed. "I don't think it will be wasting time judging me once the spell burns its skin off."
Indeed, both spells proved so utterly devastating that it didn't matter what she called them, and Seifer dropped his objections after she hauled him into the safe room, aura magic running thick in her blood, and made wild, animal love to him.
Whether the Garden Council knew just how powerful her newly acquired powers were or whether they simply decided that firing Seifer wasn't worth the political backlash, Quistis didn't know. But after she'd confronted Aki about it in the cafeteria, the matter had been summarily dropped. Squall had even begun publicly talking about an overhaul of the Garden hierarchy. Since Xu, Cid, and most of the study body supported him in it, Quistis figured the Council's days were numbered.
They had arrived back home in Balamb two days ago and already there was a different, brighter air to the school. Things were changing for the better.
Seifer's arm tightened around Quistis's shoulders.
She had not figured he would be an affectionate boyfriend, but he almost never stopped touching her.
They had become rather infamous around Garden, in fact. He never saw her without pausing to kiss her, perpetually walked with her hand in his, and flirted with her like it was his job. They also had engaged in some rather risky rendezvous all around the building, though so far no one knew about it except for them.
The time he'd shown up after her class still made her blush.
If the Garden Council ever found out about that, she wasn't sure that even her blue magic would save them.
Though she didn't mind. All her life, she'd been good. Done everything by the rules. Engaging in a little mischief for the first time was a thrill all its own. Doing it with Seifer made it even sweeter.
Though she suspected he actually did quite a bit of leg work to ensure they never got caught.
He made for a surprisingly thoughtful partner.
She got the feeling that he had a lot of romantic devotion stored up inside of him. The part of his heart that had driven him to become a knight and throw himself heedlessly to another person's cause was the same that made him such a devoted and passionate lover. The intensity with which he loved might have been too much for another person. But Quistis — so starved for affection — soaked it right up.
She had never felt so at ease with herself and the world.
"What do you want to do when we get out of here?" he asked softly, ignoring Zell's graphic description of the battle their characters were waging.
Quistis shrugged. "I was hoping you might have some ideas."
"Oh, I've got plenty of ideas."
"Other than those kind," she said with a smile.
"Honestly, now that we're back in Balamb, I'd love to get out of Garden for a while. How do you feel about dinner at a fancy restaurant and spending the night seaside? Would be nice to get out of earshot of all the people we grew up with." He shot the table crowded with their friends a meaningful glance.
A pleasurable shiver raced along Quistis's spine. "That sounds amazing."
"Mmm. It does. Doesn't it?"
He leaned in toward her but stopped when Zell shouted, "Dude! Are you guys paying attention?!"
"Oh my God, Chicken Wuss! What the hell do you have against romance?"
"There is no romance in Pupurun Adventures!"
Seifer snorted. "Oh yeah? Well, what if Twink were to just lick the side of Glorg's neck? Maybe nibble his little beastman ear? I bet he'd like that, huh?" He nudged Quistis's ear with his nose.
Zell's face flushed bright red. "Oh God. Stop! This is a kids game. Just leave if you can't control yourself."
"He's not serious, Zell," Quistis said and squeezed Seifer's knee under the table to encourage him to stop. "Ignore him and go on. He'll settle down."
Zell huffed but continued the game. Though he didn't help, Seifer didn't impede the battle and they all made it out alive to continue their journey. An hour or so later they had reached a good stopping point and all agreed to pause for the night. As they got up to walk out of the library together, Quistis linked her arm through Seifer's. "You know, you might really enjoy this game if you put some effort into playing it properly."
"I do enjoy it," he replied.
"You enjoy tormenting Zell."
"Same thing."
Quistis sighed. "Please try to get along with him."
"Ugh. Fine. But I'm only doing it for you."
As they made their way out of the library, there was no shortage of eyes watching them. The Trepies had all collectively lost it once her relationship with Seifer had gone public. From her vantage point, the meltdown had been incredibly amusing to watch. Seifer had gotten quite a bit of hateful blowback for being with her, but he didn't seem to mind. He even relished the fight and thoroughly enjoyed trolling them all with the fact that he had what they all wanted.
For her own part, Quistis had needed to answer to Alexandra Heller, though the young cadet had been more understanding than the Trepies. She had bravely insisted that she just wanted Seifer to be happy even though Quistis could tell it was killing her inside. Things had improved for the girl since though, as she became the founding member of Seifer's own blossoming fan club.
It seemed once Quistis declared him desirable, a whole host of girls who had privately thought the same let down their guard.
Seifer took news of their fawning with his usual cocky stride but confided to Quistis in private that he didn't quite know what to do with it all. He'd lived for a long time now with the idea that everyone loathed him. To actually see and experience a measure of forgiveness within Garden put him in a vulnerable place that made Quistis want to pull him close and hold him forever.
Thinking of it, she twined her fingers through his as they walked.
They stopped first in his room where he grabbed his coat and some money before telling Raijin and Fujin that he was heading to town and wouldn't be back for a while. In Quistis's room, he waited while she got ready for their evening out.
"You're making me feel underdressed," he told her when she put on a tight black dress and hoop earrings.
"It's our first real date. I want to look nice."
He blinked. "Goddamn it. You're right. Hang on. I'll be right back."
He left and arrived back right as Quistis was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. He didn't knock, just walked right into her room, and she nearly slashed her winged eyeliner all the way across her temple when she saw his reflection in her mirror. He'd put on black pants and a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, over top of which he wore a tight-fitting navy blue waistcoat-style vest that was somehow the sexiest article of clothing Quistis had ever seen.
"Oh my God. Where did you get that?"
"What?"
"That!" she said, gesturing at his vest.
He crossed his arms over top of it. "I have a bunch. I like vests. Why? Is it bad?"
Quistis's mouth dropped open. "Bad? Seifer, you look incredible."
"Good." He smiled and walked over to loop his arms around her waist. "So do you."
Oh, Hyne. He smelled delicious, too. They were going to have a hard time making it all the way to the restaurant.
Shaking her head, Qusitis pushed him back to put some distance between them. "Okay. If we're going to do this at all, we'd better go now. Hang on, let me get my heels…" She slipped them on and then grabbed a the purse she'd borrowed from Xu months ago but had yet to return. Slinging it over her shoulder, she declared herself ready to go.
They took one of the Garden cars. Seifer drove.
Quistis rolled down her window as they took the winding, forest lined road to the city. The air outside smelled of rain and the stars were obscured by high clouds but the night was still warm. Giddiness took over, leaving Quistis light headed as Garden faded in the rearview mirror behind them and the lights of Balamb appeared on the horizon.
They were actually doing this. Going on a date!
She was strangely nervous as Seifer pulled into a reserved parking space for Garden vehicles at Balamb's nicest restaurant and turned off the car. When they walked in, the girl at the front glanced at Seifer with obvious shock but then smiled when she saw Quistis. This happened to them a lot. Her mere presence with him instantly shifted people's opinions. Of course, the fact that he currently looked like a gentleman sex god probably helped, too.
"We'd like a seat near the back," Seifer said.
The hostess led them to a table near the restaurant's huge rear windows which overlooked the sea. During the day the view was incredible. On a night like this, there was less to see, but Quistis only had eyes for one thing at the moment anyway.
"I got some news today," Seifer told her as they waited for their food.
"Yeah?" Quistis stabbed the cherry floating in her drink with her straw and fished it out to eat it.
"Squall's dropping the gunblading class next semester. Says he wants to focus on overhauling Garden."
Quistis's eyebrows shot up. "Does that mean…?"
He grinned. "It does."
"You got it? Oh my God! Seifer! Congratulations!"
The unguarded pride on his face made her heart ache.
"I'm going to keep the intro combat class, too. It'll be teaching both."
"You know you're going to have to show them proper gunblading technique. Right?"
"There's nothing wrong with my technique. In fact, one-handed is better. Frees me up to cast without having to drop my guard the way Squall does."
"Most people don't have the sheer physical strength required to use a gunblade one-handed."
"Then maybe they should choose a different discipline. Anyway, the class will probably be full of Heller and her crew once word gets out. Might be a good method to weed out the riffraff. I'll show them how to do it two-handed once I've whittled it down to just the serious students. Squall did the same thing, except he made them all start out with the old Iron Cross model."
"Oof. Bet that was effective." The Iron Cross gunblade weighed ton and had a bad tendency to misfire. Only a truly dedicated student would stick it out when saddled with such a weapon.
"I'm looking forward to it," he admitted. "It's going to be fun."
Quistis smiled and ran her foot up the side of his calf underneath the table. "I'm happy for you."
"Thanks." His chest puffed, straining at the buttons on his waistcoat. The sight made Quistis's mouth go dry and she had to pause to take a long sip of her drink.
Their food arrived and as they ate rain began to come down outside, pattering against the windowpane. By the time they finished eating and headed back out to the car, it was coming down in sheets. They had to run and breathlessly ducked into the vehicle. They could barely see the road through the headlights glaring off the wet pavement as Seifer guided the car around the back of the hotel and stopped it in front of a dark, rain-soaked little cabin.
He'd called ahead before they left Garden to rent it for the night, and though it didn't boast many amenities — being little more than a single room with a bed, coffee maker, bathroom, and a deck that overlooked the harbor — it was downright luxurious compared to the Garden dormitories.
Seifer turned off the car and peered out the windshield with a sigh.
"Figures the first chance I get to really take you out, it fucking pours."
Quistis reached over to squeeze his thigh. "I don't mind. In fact, I kind of like it."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's there to like about the rain?"
She shrugged. "It's sort of insulating. Makes all this feel even more intimate and cozy."
Tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, he considered her for a moment, then said with a slow smile, "You know, this all started between us while we were fleeing a downpour in the dark."
"Hmm. It did. Didn't it?"
Leaning across the car, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Want to re-create history? Maybe do it right this time?"
Quistis turned her head long enough to catch his lips with hers. "Absolutely."
They both opened their doors at the same time and darted through the rain, up the cabin's slippery steps. Huge drops pelted Quistis's bare shoulders and dripped down her back. Her makeup would be smeared, her hair ruined by the humidity…but she didn't care. When she and Seifer got up to the door, able to huddle underneath the slight overhang together out of the weather, he hauled her up against his chest and kissed her soundly, driving every thought straight out of her mind except for want of him.
They tumbled in the door, a tangle of arms and legs and tongues.
A fat drop of rainwater trickled down her spine, sluicing an icy path across her hot skin.
The door slammed behind them and they were finally, blissfully alone.
No one sharing any of their walls. No one to interrupt or walk in on them or overhear or make any demands on their time. They had the entire night utterly and completely to themselves. Quistis had never could have imagined years ago that they would end up here together. But Hyne, she was glad they did.
Her fingers found the buttons running down the front of his vest and began unfastening them.
"Why are the most attractive clothes always the biggest pain to take off?" she muttered as she worked her way down.
Seifer laughed. "The challenge is part of the fun. Like unwrapping a present…undoing the bow, taking off the wrapping." He tucked a finger underneath the strap her dress and eased it down her arm.
She sighed with pleasure as he pulled it off the rest of the way, bunching it at her hips and releasing her ribs from the dress's tight grip. She'd put on her sexiest underwear — which wasn't saying much, but he hummed with appreciation anyway at the sight of her breasts cupped by black lace.
"God, you're beautiful." He ran a reverent hand down her back, barely skating his fingers across her skin. "And I don't mean just pretty. I mean beautiful. Like the way mountains and sunsets and the stars are beautiful. The sort that makes your heart want to stop."
He liked to talk during sex and was always saying insane things like that — lines which made her wonder why he always covered up his soft, dreamy core with aggression. She supposed that first as an orphan and then cast into the crucible of Garden, he'd simply never had anyone to love, only opponents. This part of him had never had any value until now.
She was glad to bring it out in him and be privy to it.
It felt like he'd trusted her enough to reveal his soft underbelly, and the inherent vulnerability of his murmurings and his affection made it all the more precious to her.
Quistis pulled his vest off and dropped it onto the floor, slowly stripping him down to the man she had come to adore.
"Help me with the buttons on your shirt," she whispered as she reached for his collar.
He did, and together they had his crisp, white shirt undone in short order. His sharp breaths mingled with the pounding of the rain on the roof and the windows as she slipped her hands underneath the loose fabric to find the searing heat of his bare skin. He had a lovely body. Trim and strong.
Trailing her fingers over his ribs, she thought she understood what he meant about the stars and sunsets.
Seifer shucked the shirt off, then pulled her into his embrace.
She slid one hand up into his damp hair as he kissed her.
Scooping her up by the bottom, he carried her several steps across the room, over to the bed. Dim light slashed across the covers from the huge sliding glass door that led out onto the balcony. Seifer laid her down in it, then leaned back to cast a long look over her.
"Do you remember how dark it was that night in the Training Center?" he asked as he worked her dress down over her hips. "I couldn't see you at all. And Hyne, I wanted to. All I could do was touch and try to imagine, knowing it was all I would ever have…"
Quistis flattened her hands over his, pressing them to her thighs as he dragged her dress down her legs. "I wanted to see you, too. You told me to think of someone else, but the only one I thought about was you. I only came because I knew that those hands in the dark were yours…that the person on top of me was you."
He shivered and tossed her dress off onto the floor.
"I've wanted you for a long time," he admitted.
"Since we were cadets…"
He nodded and positioned himself over her, leaning on his arms. "And now I have you. I'm pretty sure I don't deserve any of this. But I hope I never have to give you up."
She pulled him down on top of her, into a languid kiss that threatened to devour her very soul. Still she wanted him closer, deeper. She wanted every inch of him pressed to every inch of her. Wrapping her arms and legs around him, she tried her best to meld the two of them together so that they might never be parted again.
His hand reached down and gripped her thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"No rushing," he scolded gently against her lips.
She whimpered.
"We have all night." His touch slid to her knee, then back down again to her hip. "And I intend to make full use of it."
He liked to take it slow. Which wasn't something she would have guessed about him, though in hindsight it made sense that he would enjoy bringing her to the edge over and over again before finally giving her any satisfaction. He liked provoking people and had always conducted himself in order to get the biggest reaction out of those around him. That such behavior would extend to the bedroom should have come as no surprise.
Mostly, Quistis liked it. He made her the center of attention and she certainly had no complaints about the quality of his lovemaking. But sometimes she didn't want to wait, and when that happened she usually had to take control.
She did so now, sinking her fingers into his back and lifting her head to whisper in his ear, "I'll let you take it as slow as you want later. Right now, please just make love to me."
"Make love?" he asked, sounding amused. "That's not what you normally call it."
"I know."
But what she usually said wasn't what they were doing tonight. And she suspected they both knew it.
He shivered and hooked his fingers on the top of her panties. She lifted her hips and he eased them down her legs and off over her heels. He paused at the shoes, stroking her ankles and gazing up at the sight she presented all stretched out on the bed in nothing but her bra before pulling the shoes off one at a time and letting them clunk onto the floor.
"I think I like being in a relationship," he said as he stood up and unbuttoned his pants. "Not sure now why I never did it before."
"Maybe you needed to find the right person first."
He smiled — the genuine warmth there enough to make her melt. "Yeah. That's probably it."
Quistis wriggled out of her bra while he removed the rest of his clothes. She dropped it over the side of the bed onto the floor just in time for him to slide back into her arms. God, she loved the press of his body to hers — the intimate solidity of having him wrapped in her embrace with nothing between them. Breathing deep the scent of him, she pressed kisses along the top of his shoulder.
Seifer nipped at her ear. "I know you don't want me to go slow right now, but…"
His hands trailed down her sides, and then he was moving down, too, pulling out of her grasp to kiss a path down the midline of her body.
Quistis didn't object when he settled between her thighs, tangling her hands in his hair instead. The confident press of his tongue to her most sensitive place made her back arch. He'd already learned just the right way to please her — knew all her quirks and preferences. Sometimes she couldn't even make out precisely what he was doing, but with the way it made her body sing she wasn't sure she cared.
He wrapped one arm around her leg, holding her steady.
"Seifer…" She pushed him closer and lifted her hips into his touch.
Tension coiled tight in her belly. Breathing out an oath, she began to tremble.
He knew what it meant. Lifting his head, he crawled back up until she was able to loop one leg around the back of his thigh, then braced himself over top of her on one arm.
Damn, he looked delicious leaning over her like that — the muscles in his bicep and chest taut, his hair a mess from her hands, a look of pure desire on his face. They made eye contact and Quistis was suddenly overcome with emotion.
"I think I'm in love you," she told him.
He blinked in surprise, momentarily faltering.
Hell. Maybe she should have saved that confession for later.
After a second though, he recovered. His expression smoothed out, softening into something she'd never seen before. He pressed against her, their hips nestling close, and then leaned down to touch his forehead to hers.
"I know I'm in love with you," he murmured.
Her heart lurched.
She opened her mouth to reply but was robbed of words when he pushed into her.
She'd been right to call this something different. It set her whole being alight — body and soul. Gripping his shoulders, she pressed her head back into the pillow as he moved inside of her. The knot waiting to unfurl in her stomach pulled tighter and all she could think of was how much she wanted everything with him. This and more. So much more. Forever.
He muttered a curse and lowered his head to her shoulder, cupping his body around hers as his hips moved in smooth, driving thrusts. Over the past few days he had discovered some particularly good angles and he hit one now, spiking pleasure through her hot and hard.
Fuck.
Quistis dug her fingers into his back and gave herself over to the cataclysm.
It was a stars and supernovas sort of experience — the sort she'd read about before but had figured were mere poetic license. Now though, she knew what those authors had meant. It seemed to go on forever, transforming her into a quivering mass of pure rapture.
Above her, Seifer let out a long, low moan, still moving even as she squeezed and clenched and bucked until finally it took hold of him, too.
He trembled and flexed into her one last time. A rush of heat filled her at the knowledge that he was lost inside of her.
At long last, it faded, leaving both of them breathless and shaken.
"Hyne, Quistis." He kissed her. "Is it supposed to be like this?"
"I don't know."
Positioned on his elbows over her, he took a few moments to get his wits about him before pulling out and then hauling her along with him as he rolled onto his side. Dragged into his embrace, she rolled along with him and let out a long sigh of satisfaction.
The rain pattered steadily against the roof and windows as they stayed there in peaceful stillness, touching but not moving.
Much as she enjoyed sex, she liked this part, too when they were both half-liquid and together and at ease with nowhere to go and nothing to do but lavish in one another's company. It was this bit that she thought made two people a couple. That the sensation of being joined lasted beyond the act itself, to a deeper sort of bonding.
She'd never felt so close to another person or so valued as she did lying next to him in bed, their bodies still humming the same glorious tune.
"Mmm. Let's stay here forever," she said, twirling a finger on his chest. "Let's never go back to Garden."
"And not ever show off your new blue magic spells?" he glanced down at her, lifting an eyebrow. "You don't want to see Aki just fucking curl up in a ball and die when you blast the skin off a t-rexaur with that light spell of yours?"
"It's called Rainbow."
"No it's not."
She tsk'd at him good-naturedly and stretched, content. "I guess you're right on one count. I do want Aki to eat his words. But about you, not me. I can't wait for him to see you leading the gunblading class."
He squeezed her closer. "Mmm. Yeah. That will be pretty great. I haven't told anyone but you yet. Well, Squall knows. Obviously. But he won't say anything to anyone about it. Thank Hyne. If Rinoa found out she'd tell Selphie and then there'd be a stupid party or something."
"Probably," Quistis agreed, though she thought Seifer didn't quite as opposed to the idea as he tried to seem. He'd probably hadn't had a party thrown for him since his last birthday in the orphanage. She made a mental note to put together a small celebration in his honor when she got back — perhaps just her, Raijin, and Fujin.
On second thought, Squall might want to come, too. He and Seifer had been weirdly friendly with one another ever since the Deep Sea Research Center mission…
She was struck suddenly by just how much things had changed.
The chill of the room had begun to touch her as the fire of passion dissipated off her skin, so she huddled closer to him.
"Do you want to take a shower?" she asked.
"Together?"
He'd been wanting to do that but it wasn't possible in the shared bathrooms of Garden. Not without making a scene, anyway.
"Yeah." She grinned. "Might be the only chance we get for a while."
He didn't need any convincing and seconds later he had her up off the bed, heading toward the bathroom. It turned out to be a more business-like shower than he had probably dreamed of, but Quistis had been assured in no uncertain terms by Xu that shower-sex was not nearly as good of an idea as it sounded, and they made up for it later anyway once they got out and back into bed, making full use of their time alone together and the lack of anyone listening in.
By the time she finally drifted off to sleep that night, Quistis could barely move for the way satisfaction had softened her very bones.
They slept late into the next morning, only waking because the steady drum of rain finally stopped.
Seifer groaned and stretched.
When he opened his eyes, he looked first at Quistis and kissed her forehead, then glanced past her to the sliding glass door that led out onto the balcony.
"Huh. Look at that," he said.
Quistis rolled over and saw a huge, vivid rainbow arcing through the sky just outside their window. It vanished somewhere beyond a tree planted close to their cottage, its wet leaves glimmering in the fresh morning sun.
"It's a sign," she said, "that you should let me call my spells whatever I want."
He chuckled. "I guess so."
Quistis flashed him a grin, but deep inside she was thinking something else entirely.
This had started between them in the dark during a downpour and a fire that threatened to derail their lives. For a while, they'd burned in secret, their own burgeoning feelings for one another blazing higher and higher. She thought for a while she might actually incinerate in the conflagration. But now they had emerged into daylight, the storm passed, the fire captured and tamed.
It didn't feel like a threat anymore. Now it cast its warmth and light on her, reflecting through her heart and his to create something transcendently beautiful.
She loved him.
And that love rivaled the power of any magic she'd ever known.
THE END
(A/N: This has been a happy little mental world for me to languish in these past few months. I'm not sure that I will ever really move on from Seifer and Quistis. They are my OTP for life. It has been so wonderful to be in their world and in their heads again. I love them and this fandom so much. Thank you all for going on this smutty little adventure with me!)