by NightsDawne
Chapter 7: Cause You And Me Is Two Of A Kind
Seifer opened his eyes. How long had he been asleep? He rolled to his side, looking up at the sky. It hadn't changed, the moon still shone down on them, but would skies tell time in his memories? It was too dark here. They weren't safe.
He forced his protesting body up into a sitting position, reaching over to shake Selphie's shoulder lightly. "Babe? Wake up, we've got to get someplace where there's light."
Selphie squirmed, kicking one foot down, then sat up, scattering sand from her hair. "Griever?"
"He's not here yet." Seifer picked Irvine up, shifting him in his arms gently, trying not to wake him. He'd only be afraid if he opened his eyes anyway. He got his feet under him and stood, Selphie getting up to stand next to him, her hand on his shoulder.
"Where are we?"
"Balamb Beach. Went swimming by myself one night. Got a cramp, almost drowned." Seifer brushed a kiss against her hair, needing to remind himself that she was what was real, not the replaying scenes they were trapped in.
She tilted her face to smile up at him, the moon reflecting in her pupils. "Wasn't one of your brighter moves, huh? But the moon sure was pretty."
"Not half as pretty as you," he breathed. She went up on tiptoe and kissed him.
"I almost forgot. We never wake up without a kiss."
"Or saying I love you." Seifer smiled.
"I love you, too, you big nut. Come on. There's always the chance that Balamb Hotel is right up that bluff." She skipped ahead, her bouncy stride barely tempered by the strenuous workout they'd already had. He shifted Irvine up a bit and followed after her, her perkiness easing the aches of his own body.
Squall leaned his head back against the wall, his weight braced by one foot pressed to it. How long was it going to take? The antiseptic smell of the infirmary had been replaced by hot dogs and it was making him feel a little sick. Nobody but Zell had been able to eat and Zell was helping himself to untouched servings. Squall was convinced that the martial artist could eat anything anywhere in any circumstances.
He let his head fall to the side, watching Ellone and Selphie. He'd never seen Selphie's body this still for this long. Even when she slept she was hyperkinetic. It wasn't unusual for her to roll across a tent and lay a right hook to whoever was sharing it with her without even waking. After several nights of abuse Rinoa and Quistis had devised a method of stacking every item they could lay their hands on between their sleeping bags and hers in an effort to contain her night motion so they could get some sleep themselves. When he'd first met her his impression had been that she was an airhead and a klutz, hardly SeeD material, but over time he'd learned that she was driven, loyal, and enthusiastic about combat to a point bordering on psychotic. Armed cheerleader on crack, he thought. He seemed to be the only one not surprised that she was with Seifer. In their own way they were two of a kind. They shared a wild independance of thought, a boldness to act that he sometimes envied. They never second guessed themselves. To both of them obstacles were something to be ignored, overlooked, blindly trampled. A wise obstacle ran when it saw either of them coming. His thoughts wandered to what would be going on if the pair were in Selphie's head instead. Probably a field of wildflowers with rainbows, butterflies, and prancing unicorns, the view only spoiled by terrified monsters cowering and hoping she wouldn't notice them.
A deep breath from Quistis drew his attention back to the room and he let his eyes fall on the bed where his best friend lay, pale, almost appearing dead but for his shallow breathing. Irvine was Squall's polar opposite, talkative, outgoing, impulsive and fun-loving. The first day they met Irvine had been able to draw more conversation from him than Quistis could manage in a month. He still couldn't pull up any memories of Irvine in their childhood, but he imagined that as a kid Irvine had to have been a lot different than he was now. Nobody could miss the cowboy when he walked into a room, demanding and commanding attention with a ready laugh, a cocky grin, and always a wisecrack on his lips. He'd have remembered someone like that, even through the fog of the GFs. When Irvine had left the Garden without so much as a goodbye Squall had felt lost again, nobody around to read his moods and nudge him into conversations. Rinoa was learning to understand him, slowly, but Irvine was unique, magnetic. It was just too hard to resist talking to him, he made it so easy, listened so well. He couldn't lose him again. Somewhere in Seifer's tortured mind Irvine was trapped, a helpless kid, dependant on Seifer and Selphie to survive.
He looked to Seifer, his eyes narrowing automatically. He almost felt jealousy that his old rival had not only returned, but had slipped into a close friendship with Irvine as if they'd always been a pair. Seifer's wild streak had to appeal to the reckless gunslinger and it wasn't something Squall could emulate himself. Many times he'd walked to Irvine's room to hang out with him only to hear Seifer's laughter over one of Irvine's raunchy jokes and felt a rejection his logical side told him wasn't there. He'd walk past the room and into his own, falling into a silence even Rinoa couldn't pull him out of. He knew Irvine was still his friend, would always welcome him, but it still felt as though Seifer were trying to take Irvine from him just because Squall needed him. It had always been that way between him and Seifer, at least as far back as he could remember. An unspoken competition over everything, a grudging respect that they were each other's only match in battle, a silent declaration that one day one of them would come out on top and the other would never accept it. Now Squall was SeeD commander, Seifer his subordinate, and still it was always a battle between them. He suspected that Seifer only obeyed orders to prove to Squall that he was a better mercenary than the commander.
"They're awake again, moving." Ellone's voice was strained from the concentration required to keep Selphie under, timelapsed back merely fractions of a second.
"Griever?" Cid's voice cracked slightly.
Ellone shook her head. "I don't see him for now."
Squall leaned his head back against the wall.
"It's Balamb! It's okay, Seifer!" Selphie danced ahead, throwing her arms up and turning a somersault that ended in more of a sitting position than would generally be considered good gymnastics, but she was back on her feet in an instant. Seifer relaxed, relieved as dawn broke on the busy port village he knew so well. The hotel with its promise of safe warm beds beckoned him forward in spite of his feet dragging in his heavy boots.
"M'hungwy, Seifew." Irvine stretched his arms up to hug Seifer's neck, blinking against the sun.
Seifer shifted him to a more upright position. "Okay, little bro, we'll get you a donut in the hotel." He looked down at Irvine, brushing his hair out of his eyes, quickly giving up on getting it to look halfway groomed. He was sure he looked as beaten up and bedraggled as Irvine and Selphie did, but he was beyond caring. All that mattered was getting some rest so they could resume their search. Selphie skipped back and hugged him from the side, then took his hand, swinging it between them as they made their way onto the main road and into town. They were both too tired and relieved to take notice of the silence of the city, usually already ringing with sounds of the fishing boats in the harbor and the early trains arriving at the station.
Seifer handed Irvine over to Selphie as they made their way up the steps of the hotel. He gave both of them a grin as he put his hand to the door, pushing it open. Inside red carpet of the sort only found in hotels stretched to the empty front desk. Seifer stepped in, holding the door for Selphie as she followed, Irvine twisting his head around to get a look at the new surroundings. Selphie gave a sigh of relief and let Irvine slide down to the floor. "Beds. Showers. Cute little bottles of hand lotion."
Seifer laughed, turning to close the door behind him, falling silent as it fell shut with a heavy thud, no longer salt-worn pine but a heavy walnut, painted white to match the marble walls on either side. He sucked in his breath and turned slowly. It wasn't the hotel. Black marble panels contrasted sharply with the white marble panels, curving around to form a circular room, dominated in the center by a white marble altar. Above it rotated a mirror, hung in midair, reflecting an infirmary, familiar faces tight with worry. A beautiful woman in a long purple dress leaned against the altar between them and the mirror, her slender hand lazily stroking the head of the hideous guardian force that lay obediently at her feet.
"Are you man enough?" Her lips curved in a cruel, possessive smile.
