I
Get Carsick
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"Can you roll up the window?"
Squall's eyes flicked up from the
road to glance at Zell in the rear-view mirror, before pressing the button to
shut the window by him. They were stuck
in a traffic jam just outside of Dollet.
Rain was pattering gown in a fine mist and the windscreen wipers were
squeaking across the glass. Squall was
drumming his fingers annoyingly on the steering wheel, and Zell, behind him
shivering in his damp swim shorts, just wanted to punch him.
The blonde teen was huddled on
the backseat with his knees drawn up, blatantly disregarding Quistis' demands
that he "buckle up", and trying to avoid the wildly jabbing limbs that were
protruding from the writhing mass that was Irvine and Selphie. The two had been overcome by a sudden bout
of lust, and their lack of shame was resulting in a heavy petting session
despite their audience.
Quistis had blushed slightly pink
when she saw what the two SeeDs were doing, Squall didn't even acknowledge the
situation. Zell watched, quietly
wondering what it felt like to be touched like that. Squall would never touch him, full stop. This lead to a rather confusing episode in
Zell's mind as he tried to work out what it would be like his first time. He was convinced no one but Squall would be
good enough to be his first, but he was equally convinced he would never be
with Squall. Inching through the
traffic, it didn't take long to diagnose Terminal Virginity.
Selphie sat up with a smudged and
satisfied smile. "Cheer up Zellykins,
it might never happen."
"Thanks for the encouragement,"
he remarked morosely.
The green-eyed girl removed the
arm she had thrown around the shivering Zell.
"Geez! You almost sound like
Squa…"
"Shut up."
The bright green eyes
blinked. "Oooookay…" she turned to her
boyfriend who drew her into a hug.
"What's up with Shorty?" he
drawled. Zell reached round and slapped
the cowboy around the back of the head.
"Ow!"
"I'm five-five. I think you'll find it's your girly who's
the midget," he said in a mocking voice.
Irvine shifted in his seat to hit
Zell but Selphie caught his arm and stopped him with a look. "He's upset, leave him…"
"Right under the thumb…" Zell
stage whispered.
"That's it you…"
"Fu…"
"Zell, shut up." Squall hadn't even looked round, and his
voice came as a shock. Quistis turned
from her window to look at the young man beside her in the driver's seat.
"I…"
"Why is it," Squall cut in. "That whenever you get into a car, you turn
into a six year old?"
"It's good to know you find me a
productive member of the team." He said
it with such an odd tone that Quistis tensed expectantly and stared at him in
the mirror.
"Stop whining Zell. This isn't the best time." Leaning to peer along the line of cars
approaching the harbour town, he didn't catch Quistis' warning look. Too late, his attention was re-focused on
the cars interior when there was a click as the door opened and then was
slammed as hard as Zell's strength would permit.
The blonde had climbed out of the
car and began walking towards Dollet along the side of the road.
"For Hyne's sake… Zell!"
Squall had wound down the window and stuck his out to call after the
retreating figure. "Zell get back in
the car." No answer. "Zell!"
The martial artist ignored him and kept walking. His tank top and shorts, already wet from
his dip I the sea, were getting soaked as the rain began to get heavier.
The dark haired driver slumped
back into his seat and took a deep breath.
The other three occupants of the car sat in slightly stunned silence.
Quistis was the next one to
speak. "I'll drive. You should go after him." She was squinting through her glasses down
the length of the road trying to separate Zell from the rest of the grey world.
"Why? If he wants to act like an…"
"Oh please Squall!" Selphie
chirped, leaning forwards and clutching the headrest of Quistis' seat. "He'll catch pneumonia if he's out in that
weather for long."
"No, he won't."
"Squall…?"
"No. I'm not going after
him. I came out to spend my day off
with my friends. Pissing about with
little kids having tantrums was not on the agenda."
Quistis regarded the Commander
for a moment. She unbuckled her
seatbelt, and picked up her long coat, which she had folded and tucked in the
space under her chair. She shrugged it
on and held her hand out to Squall.
"Jacket," she said shortly.
Squall didn't say anything, but handed over his fur-lined leather
jacket. Then Quistis too left the car,
hurrying after Zell.
Squall looked up into the mirror
and stared into the fiercely glaring green eyes that had caught his. "What?" he asked their owner.
Selphie just turned away with a
snort.
"Zell, wait!" Quistis shouted as
she jogged after him. It was the third
time she had called, but this time he complied. She shook out Squall's coat as she neared him and draped it
around his shoulders. "Zell, are you
all right?"
His eyes were red-rimmed and he
shrugged, then nodded. "I like rain,"
he smiled. "When it's raining I don't
feel like I'm crying." He laughed and
pushed his arms into the sleeves of the coat.
"It sounded more dramatic than I meant."
Quistis began to button up her
coat; she hadn't had a chance to before.
"Squall's being a bastard again?"
Zell nodded and started walking
again. "You probably think I'm
overreacting." He seemed to huddle
deeper into Squall's jacket. "Have you
ever noticed how Squall doesn't have a smell?"
Quistis frowned at the tattooed
man amusedly. "Can't say that I have."
"It's funny. Look.
Smell, I mean." He grinned and
held out the sleeve of the jacket. Quistis
shook her head. Zell shrugged and
hugged himself. "No aftershave, no
soap. Not even sweat," he said grinning
again.
"Well, you know Squall. Ice cubes don't sweat."
"They melt though. Which is sorta the same thing."
"I suppose you're right." She smiled at him and hooked her arm through
his.
The pair walked in silence until
they entered the town. The car wasn't
too far away from the border, but there was so much traffic it would take them
hours to get there on the road.
"There's a café in the Hotel,"
Quistis said looking through the rain that had again eased off into a
drizzle. "Want to wait in there?"
"Nah," Zell sighed. "We won't be able to see when they get
here." They were walking through
Dollet's cobbled streets. "There's
another one just up the road, towards the docks. They'll have to go down there to get to the ferry. We'll be see from there."
"Zell, are you sure you're not
too cold?"
He looked at her and his smile
faltered. "I'm bloody freezing! I want some cocoa."
A few minutes later they were
sitting in the café Zell had referred to, sipping on mugs of hot chocolate,
with the blonde boy wrapped in a blanket Quistis had borrowed from the owners
who lived in a flat above their shop.
"Quistis, can I tell you
something?" She had expected this. All through her explanation of one of the
theories of GF origins, he had seemed distracted. She knew he wasn't particularly interested in that topic, but he
was trying to decide something, and he always felt more comfortable with some
noise in the background. "It's about
Squall."
"I thought so." Quistis smiled kindly and leant closer to
Zell, putting her mug down. "Let's have
it."
"This might sound really stupid,"
he looked at her as if begging her not to think he was stupid. "But… do you think Squall hates me?"
"What do you mean?" Quistis was humouring him now. She could tell he had changed his mind about
what he was going to say.
"Well," he began to fidget. "I'm always running around for him, doing
things. He, he treats me like I'm his personal
minion, or something…" He stopped as if trying to work out what to say. "I thought he was my friend?" Quistis laughed. "Wha's so funny?"
"Nothing Zell." He pulled his blanket up around his face
defensively as she spoke. "He does the
same to me, to a lesser extent it's true.
But you see, it's because he doesn't want anyone else to think he needs
help." Zell looked confused. "Zell, Squall feels like he has to be the
big strong leader for everyone. He
doesn't want to disappoint anyone, so he feels like he can't ask for help. He manipulates you into doing things for him
because you're the one he wants help from more than anyone else. Remember how Rinoa used to fuss around
him? It's like that."
"He thinks about me… Like Rinoa?" The way he scrunched up his nose told her he didn't know what to
make of that.
"Yes. Sort of."
Zell shifted deeper into the
blanket. "Like… love?" Quistis regarded him steadily. "Because, I love him you know…"
TBC