Chapter Four: Misinterpratation
Notes: Ugh, I'm SO sorry about the wait on updates. I had so many schedule difficulties trying to get the weekend off for SugoiCon, so I had no time. But I'm hoping to get back into things now, and we'll start with some good Zidane/Ama angst. Yeah?
As always, for Gar-san and Kurumi.
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Zidane was grinning at Amarant the entire time. While the Weapon Shop was still pretty busy, it was nothing compared to the crowd it had been. Vivi was slowly getting over the shock of what he almost repeated. Amarant had to give him credit that he actually knew what it meant. But he was caught lately between theories that he didn't act old enough, and that he acted too old.
The monkey was still smirking at him. Amarant finally glared back. "What the hell is wrong with you now?"
"I got you to sing!"
He sighed, feeling a headache coming on. Maybe a prescription of a few drinks might cure it. "Whatever."
Zidane put his hands on his hips, grinning like the maniac Amarant was convinced he was. "Not soaloof now, are you Mr. Sing-along?" (1)
"I swear to Gaia I will hurt you if you don't shut up," Amarant ran a hand through his hair. Zidane opened his mouth but the bounty hunter cut him off. "And if I hear one more damned song out of you, your ass is mine."
Zidane waited until Amarant was out of swinging range, then muttered. "I thought it wasn't a regular occurrence?"
Amarant's eye twitched, a bad sign. Vivi hid a bit behind Zidane. At least the kid had some sense. He shook his head, refusing to let the blond get to him. "I said your ass would be mine…not the rest of you."
Zidane laughed. "Whoo. Score."
Amarant decided this had gone on long enough. "Are you done yet?"
The monkey shrugged. "We've been done for awhile. I was just having some fun with you Ama."
He put a hand to his forehead. "Haven't I told you not to call me that?"
Another grin. "Yeeeeees."
"Then why do you keep doing it?"
He started to usher Vivi out of the shop. "Because I think it's a cute name."
"Do you know how much I hate you?
Zidane laughed. "I can guess," before Amarant had a chance to defend himself, Zidane hopped up, planting a kiss on his cheek. He felt the blood rush to his face in response.
"Damn monkey!" Amarant chased Zidane out of the store. The thief laughed, grabbing Vivi by the hand and dragging the boy along.
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Dagger and Eiko were waiting for them when they returned to the inn, out of breath from running all the way. Zidane slumped into one of the empty chairs, putting his hands behind his head. "Wow, a meal waiting for me every time I come here. I could get used to this."
"You guys are so slow! We were done hours ago!" Eiko gave a piece of her chicken to Mog, who was perched in her lap.
"I happen to appreciate the value of a good night's sleep is all," Zidane replied sagely. Amarant and Vivi sat beside him.
"And I suppose you had a good night's sleep in someone else's bed?" Dagger asked lightly. Dangerous ground.
Amarant, who had just started eating, almost choked. Dagger looked at him, surprised.
"Aww, c'mon Dagger! Why would I do something like that, when I have you for company?"
She shook her head. "I don't know why I bother…"
Amarant stood. "You've got problems monkey. I'm eating in my room." He took his plate and went.
As he made his way up the stairs, he started to hear an echo of his steps. Bounty hunter instincts kicked him, and he whirled around into a fighting stance. An impressive feat on its own, with the added skill of managing to keep his dinner from spilling.
Vivi let out a yelp, backing up a bit. "S-Sorry!"
Amarant shook his head, turning back around. "What do you want, kid?'
Vivi hurried to catch up with him as he went down the hall. "W-Well…I was wondering about you and Zidane…"
Christ, now even the kid was asking questions. The whole thing was a mistake. An amazingly hot mistake…
Dammit.
"Um…are you okay?"
Amarant blinked. "I'm fine."
Vivi looked up at him, still trying to match his pace. "Oh. I was just wondering, since you usually seem so alert. You've been spacing out a lot today, if you don't mind me saying."
The redhead decided to be honest, at least with the kid. "I don't. I was thinking the same thing."
He nodded, adjusting his floppy hat. Amarant wondered vaguely if Vivi still felt nervous around him. "I can tell. You're quiet all the time, like me. I'll bet you're always thinking about something."
Amarant almost smiled. "You might say that."
There was a silence between them that lasted until they reached Amarant's room. At first it looked like Vivi was going to continue on to his room, but he stopped.
"Amarant?"
At least he hadn't picked up on Zidane's nickname. "Hmm?"
Vivi seemed to consider his words carefully. "You're not—you and Zidane aren't really going to hurt each other, are you?"
If it were anyone else, Amarant would have told him he'd beat the monkey within an inch of his miserable life without a second thought. But he found he couldn't say that to Vivi. The kid was right; they were a lot alike. But Vivi had an innocence that none of them could, and Amarant couldn't bring himself to hurt that. Maybe he was getting soft.
Instead he shrugged, opening the door. "I'm thinking about it."
He stepped inside and shut the door, leaving a thoroughly shocked Back Mage standing there.
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Amarant was packing his things for morning when someone started pounding on his door. With a disgusted sigh, he opened it. Immediately Zidane stepped into the room.
"What the hell did you say to Vivi!" he demanded.
Amarant was momentarily taken aback. He shook his head. "What are you talking about?"
He crossed his arms. "He's in the other room, convinced we're going to kill each other! What did you tell him!"
Amarant suddenly understood. "He asked if we were going to hurt each other, and I told him I didn't know. It's not my fault that's how he interpreted it."
"You don't tell him things like that!" Zidane yelled, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Don't you know anything about kids!"
"Obviously not!" Amarant snapped back, "But at least I have the decency not to lie to him!"
"I cannot BELIEVE you!" Zidane clenched his fists, stomping his foot to express his anger.
"Well, then I guess I won't wait for morning," he grabbed his bag, slinging it over a shoulder. "See you around, you damn monkey."
"Amarant, wait—" Zidane started. Amarant walked past him without a word and walked out the door.
He made it all the way out of the inn before he heard Zidane catch up with him. "Go back inside."
Zidane didn't answer. Amarant had time to turn around before he noticed Zidane hadn't stopped running. He plowed into the taller man with considerable speed, knocking Amarant to the ground and landing on top of him.
"What the hell--?" he stopped short, hearing Zidane was mumbling something. The blond's head was buried in his chest, muffling his words further. Amaranth strained to hear, and finally caught some of it.
"I can't."
Amarant pushed himself up on his elbows. "You can't what?"
Zidane looked up, his face for once, serious and sad. "I can't do this by myself."
He frowned. "You can't do what? What are you talking about?"
Zidane's hands tightened, clutching the fabric of Amarant's shirt. "You wanted to beat me, right? Well you did, and you didn't have to fight me. I can't do this without you anymore, so you win."
Amarant shook his head. "I don't—"
"Please," Zidane cut him off, "You can't leave. I don't know why, but I've gotten so used to you being here that I rely on it, and if you leave, I'm going to fall apart."
Amarant regarded him quietly. "You're serious, aren't you?"
Zidane didn't say anything. He shifted so they were face to face. Then he closed the distance between them in a slow deep kiss. Amarant, too shocked to do anything, instinctually responded.
The blond wrapped his arms around Amarant's neck, pulling him closer. Tilting his head, he nudged the bounty hunter's mouth open.
When he felt Zidane's tongue in his mouth, Amarant's brain finally registered the situation. With a confused noise, he pulled away. He frowned, noticing he was slightly out of breath. "I thought I said it wasn't going to be a regular occurrence…
For a moment, Amarant saw the most defeated look he'd ever seen flash across Zidane's face, and he felt like the scum of the planet for putting it there. But almost immediately, it was gone, replaced with a sad smile. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry…"
Amarant sighed. "Whatever. Let's just go back inside."
Zidane didn't move. "You're not going to leave?"
"We'll talk about it inside. Now let's go before some dwarf starts thinking we're a couple or something."
The monkey looked relieved. He squirmed off Amarant, and the bounty hunter was surprised with himself that he felt a small loss when he did. He shook it off, getting up and heading back into the inn.
Amarant was silent the entire trip back to his room, so Zidane wisely did the same. The redhead unlocked his door. Upon retrospect, if he had really thought he was leaving, why did he lock his door and take the key?
This question went unanswered, as Zidane turned to look at him again with that pleading look. "Are you staying?"
Amarant looked away, defeated. "I guess I'll stick around."
He nodded, smiling again. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
Amarant shrugged. "Like I care. People yell at me all the time."
Zidane looked like he was about to say something, but decided to drop it. Instead he sat on the edge of the bed.
Before he could stop himself, Amarant sat down beside him. "Did you mean what you said out there?"
The thief blinked in confusion for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah. You did win, right? I mean, if I can't survive without you here to help, then technically it means I can't live without you. So the way I see it, you're the winner, because you hold the power, y'know?'
Amarant snorted. "Do you really think you should be telling me just how much power I have over you?"
Zidane shrugged. "If it'll get you to stay, I'd tell you everything I know."
He shook his head with a small smile. "You're such a girl, you know that?"
"Hey!" He looked mock-offended.
"Anyway, about this relationship thing you seem to want to have…"
Zidane's face flushed, and he looked away. "Well I—"
The redhead cut him off. "I'm not saying it'll be some cutesy 'honey-darling- thing, but at least…"
He turned back to look at him, managing a small smile of his own. "Friends with benefits?'
Amarant made a face. "I hate that term."
Zidane tilted his head questionably. "Then what do you wanna call it?"
The taller man smirked, leaning forward. "How about…rivals with benefits?"
Zidane laughed.
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(1) Sorry Kurumi, but that line made meh laugh so hard I just HAD to use it!
Karu: Well, that's it for this chappeh. There's one left out of this one. –flails- Ugh, everyone's so horribly out of character in this one! Except Vivi. I like how that part turned out. Well, hope everyone liked it regardless. And now for review responses!
Devilish Kurumi: Whoo, thankehs. I really do hate it tho. And Thankehs also for pimping meh on Deepest Blue. I've got it saved to read, but I wish I could review constantly. Just know that I think it's one of the most awesome ficcehs I've read in awhile!
Ameki-Elisa: Thankehs! You have no idea how much the Captain Jack thing still amuses meh. The Kissy Kissy thing too. -laughs- Yeah, Zidane/Kuja is alright, but I think Zidane/Ama's more fun. And there's always my Zidane/Vivi kick. Zidane's just a bit of a whore, isn't he? -grins-
Until next time everyone!