Disclaimer: All the FFVIII characters and thingies belong to Squaresoft. I, the humble kamaitachi, am merely borrowing. So, don't sue me please...
Notes/Warnings/What are you to find in this fic:
· This fic is going to be a Quistis/Seifer fic. So, if you cannot tolerate Queifers... well, don't read it. Just leave...
· There are LIME and LEMON some of the fic's chapters, not all (just watch the rating when I post it to know). If you think you can handle that, go ahead. (I'll try to make a separate chapter for the LEMON)
· Some little POVs (perhaps).
· You might find slight unsuitable language. But very rare, I think.
· This fic is NOT A MUSHY fanfic. It's NOT WAFFy. (At least I don't think so, don't hope so.)
· I'm still new at writing. So, please forgive me if this fic does not give you any satisfaction.
Things Happen
Chapter 2
Seifer took a seat near Quistis. She sighed once he seated himself.
"The seat's taken, Seifer," she said, while motioning to the bartender to pass her a drink.
"O yeah?" Seifer motioned to the bartender the same, the usual. "I didn't see anyone who could be sitting on this seat."
"I'm waiting for someone. She just hasn't arrived YET."
"She? I thought it could've been a he."
"No..." Quistis took a sip from her glass. She flinched because of the taste. It was sweet, but... Damn! This thing's turned out to be actually quite heavy.
"No," she continued, "It's Rinoa. She wanted to talk to me about something. She said it's about Squall."
"Hmmph...figures!" he snorted.
"What do you mean by:...'figures'?"
"Oh nothing... it figures why you would actually come to this place late before curfew like this. You'd do anything if it's for Puberty-Boy." Seifer regretted his sentence right after he had said it. Didn't he come to sit by her side to settle something down? Not to start another argument. That last sentence would've triggered something. And it sure did.
"I told you it's not like that, Seifer!" her voice started to rise as she gulped another sip from her glass. She didn't want to bring this unnecessary matter up again. "Rinoa said she needed help. She said it's important. And she also said that it concerned about Squall as well. And I'm just doing a favor for my friends, okay! And if you don't like that, well, it's none of your---"
"Okay, fine! I get your point! I'm sorry, alright! ...I'm sorry...!"
Quistis were still for a moment. Wait a minute! Did Seifer just say sorry? Quistis couldn't believe what she had heard. "What did you say?"
"What? What did I say?" Clueless.
"You said you were sorry." She didn't think that such word could've escaped from his lips. She didn't even know he had such word in his vocabulary.
"Oh... that." he rested his folded arms on the counter. "Yeah... I said 'I'm sorry'. That was why I came to sit here by the first place anyway."
"To tell me that you're sorry?" she looked at him with doubt drawn on her face.
"Y- yeah..." Seifer confirmed. He ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair. He looked at the surface of the counter. "Look, maybe it sounded weird that I said 'I'm sorry'. But, maybe, for just once---..." he stopped. He looked at her again. He could see that minor cut he had caused earlier this morning. It didn't look obvious enough though. It was minor after all. He spoke again, but not continuing his last sentence, "I'm also sorry that I've put a scratch on your neck. I didn't mean to, really. That was an accident. And let me let you know that I didn't have the intention to kill you either. I had tried to say this earlier this morning, but failed after you slapped me on the face."
Quistis still couldn't believe it. The over-ambitious-ignorant-self-centered Seifer Almasy said that? She took another gulp. Is there something going on? she became suspicious. *Another gulp*. 'But what if he really did mean it?'
"Do- do you actually mean it, Seifer?"
Seifer noticed her dumbfounded look. He couldn't stand it. The temptation was too much. He started to laugh... "Ha..Ha..Ha... ! Do you think that I'd actually said that?! There's no way in the world I'd really mean it!" Although he actually did. But reputations—good or bad, like it or not—are meant to be kept.
"Wha-! Seifer, you jerk! I should've--"
"Excuse me," somebody interrupted, "Are you Miss Trepe?" the bartender was holding the telephone.
"Yes..."
"A call for you." he handed her the phone. She took it with curiosity.
"...Hello...?"
"Quistis?"
"Yes, who's this?"
"It's me. Rinoa."
"Oh, what's the matter?"
"Listen, Quistis, I may be late. My father's just got a heart attack. The doctor's on the way. It may take a while. Um... 15 or 20 minutes perhaps. I'll take the express train and get there as soon as possible. Will you wait?"
"But I thought you were already in Balamb."
"Well... it's a long story. It's okay if you want to just leave actually..."
"No, it's okay. I'll wait."
"Alright, thanks a lot, Quistis. I'll call you again, okay? See ya!"
"Okay, see ya..." *click!* She handed back the phone to the bartender. She sighed...
"Who was that? Rinoa?" Seifer asked.
"Um... yeah. Something came up and she's gonna be late."
"Huh! Yeah... something always came up when it comes to her." he took a gulp. He finished his drink. There was a tone of disrespect towards Rinoa in his voice. It must have got something to do with their past relationship.
"Hey, it's something serious! Her--" She was going to say something more about Rinoa's excuse of being late, but cancelled it. She found it useless to say anything at all to Seifer. "Why are you still here anyway? Weren't you leaving when I came here? What do you want? Are you sitting here just to bug me? Go away, Seifer! Get a life!" she mumbled and took a sip.
As he had finished his drink, Seifer actually was going to leave, but he changed his mind. "Hey! What if I still want to hang around here? Got a problem with it? I like this place. I come here more often than you do. You have no right to tell me to go." he motioned to the bartender to pass him another drink. He took a sip from the glass.
"Yeah, I got a problem with it!"
"Deal with it! But I ain't leaving!"
"Oh, just shut up, Seifer!" she decided to put a stop to the going-to-be-endless argument. "And gimme that!" She snatched Seifer's glass and drank the whole thing in one gulp.
"Hey, what the--!"
That'll shut ME up! If he wasn't going to shut up, then she would. She coughed when she had finished it. Seifer's drink was too heavy for her. But that way, she would be able to suppress her urge to argue with him, at least that was what she had expected. She would just have to distract herself to forget the shithead's presence. A weird kind of thinking, even in her own opinion.
"Gimme another of this thing!" she demanded to the bartender.
15 minutes had passed...
"I don't think she's coming. Forget about that helping your friends bullshit!"
"Shut up, Seifer! I'm trying to forget your presence here." Her voice calm. But her eyes...? –Getting empty.
"By getting drunk?"
"Yeah... whatever..."
"You sounded like Squall." he looked away. They were both now drinking the same drink. Seifer was doing fine except for the heat which was starting to consume his body. While Quistis was not doing too good. She's not gonna survive...
25 minutes...
*RING!* The phone rang. The bartender picked it up. "Hello... ... Yes, she's still here... ... A moment please..."
"Excuse me, sir," he said to Seifer, "Is your friend still capable of answering the phone?"
"Huh? Uh, no, I don't think so." Seifer looked at Quistis. She seemed aloof. "I'll get that for her if you don't mind."
"Hey, I can answer that..." she reached a hand as the bartender handed the phone to Seifer.
He just waved her hand away. "No," he said. "Hello, Rinoa?"
"Um, who's there? Where's Quistis?"
"Listen, it's me. Seifer. Quistis can't answer the phone right now. Is there anything you want to tell her?"
"Oh, hi, Seifer. Well, I guess I'll just have to leave a message for her. Could you tell her--"
"Gimme that!" the phone was suddenly snatched by Quistis. "Hello... Rinoa?"
"Quistis? Is that you?"
"Yeah......"
"Quistis, you don't sound so good... Are you okay?"
"Yeah... I'm okay. Really."
"Alright... I just want to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm not gonna make it. I can't leave my father right now. I think I'll only be able to get there by tomorrow. I'll explain it all when I meet you. I'll give you another call."
"Oh. Okay. That's fine. I understand."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Uh... yeah... We can still talk tomorrow or whenever you want."
"Okay then. I'm really, really sorry. And... thanks a lot."
"No worries." *click!*
"She's not coming, right?"
"No..."
"So, are you gonna leave now?"
"No... Why should I?"
"Quistis, you're getting drunk." Little did he know, she already was.
"So? What do you care?"
"Hey, I just don't want to carry you in case you can't walk or something. I'm not gonna be some gentleman like that Squall in your head."
"You don't have to then."
"Whatever..." he took another sip from his glass. The **-th glass. He couldn't tell. But what he could tell was that Quistis had had more drinks than him.
"Humph! Now you're the one who sounded like Squall." It seemed that she already forgot her intention to shut up.
"Are you willing to start another round of debating, Quistis?" He was half-drunk right now, and he was not willing to have another tongue fight with her.
"No. I don't want to..." she sipped again. "You know what? I was wondering? Why do you always think that I'm in love with Squall?"
"Aren't you?"
"No. Well, I was once. What can I say? I guess he's a chick-magnet."
"And are you saying that you're not anymore?"
"Guess so. I mean, first of all, he rejected me, and now he already got Rinoa."
"Are you jealous at her?"
"Hell, no! Why should I be?"
"Well, doesn't Quistis Trepe feel a little lonely because she doesn't have any guy, and failed because Rinoa took someone she had actually known longer than Rinoa has?" Seifer expected that she was going be angry because he had said something like that.
"It doesn't really matter that much anymore, Seifer." To Seifer's surprise, she took it pretty well. "Loneliness? I'm used to it. I don't even know it anymore whenever I'm actually lonely. If you remember it well, I was always far away from all of you back then in Matron's. Maybe it was because I had always acted like the big sister around, and always tried to be the good example, so that I was always in a different world from all of you - still there with you guys, but in a different world. Squall became like that too when Ellone left—being in his own different world. But the difference with me... was that he shut the only gate to his world so tight, so that nobody could even take a peek at it and he wouldn't even let himself out." She took another sip.
Seifer just stared at her. Not knowing what to say.
"And another thing," she said again, "I'm not jealous at Rinoa because... I don't have to own Squall or something like that. I mean, I like him, but that's it. He's like someone to get my mind distracted because I actually have no one in particular to be in love with." Quistis had said all of that out of her mind, without herself even realizing it.
Minutes passed again. Quistis hadn't budged...
Seifer didn't want to say anything anymore. He was wondering... As he observed Quistis, he was able to see that her cheeks were flushed because of the drink's effect. She certainly doesn't look good. She ordered another drink to the bartender. Does she know what she's doing right now?
"Seifer, why aren't you drinking anymore? You're not that drunk yet, are you? I mean… look at me!"
"Huh, yeah... look at you!" he was implying to her state: drunk!
"Phew! Is it hot in here or is it just me?"
"Quistis, you're drunk! I think we should get out of here. It's past curfew by the way."
"Since when do you care? You're not even in the Disciplinary Committee anymore. C'mon! Why don't you have another drink!" she motioned again to the bartender, which he immediately complied.
"Alright. Just one more and then we're outa here!" So, he gulped his last drink and grab Quistis by the wrist.
"No, wait," she restrained. "I still want some more." She grabbed her glass.
"No, Quistis! You've had enough!"
"At least lemme finish this..." she lifted her glass.
"No," Seifer tried to catch the glass, but he was late. Quistis already gulped them all down.
"Just one more, please?" she still insisted on her drink.
So Seifer did one thing his spinning head could only think about. He lifted her up and carried her on his shoulder. He put some money on the counter. "Here, take it all..." he said to the bartender. And then he left from the pub.
"Lemme go, dammit!" Quistis's fist pounded on Seifer's back. But he ignored it and only let her go once they were outside.
"There! Happy?" But Quistis started to walk - awkwardly - to get into the pub again. Seifer quickly grabbed the back of her collar. "Oh, no, you don't!"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh!" She went back to Seifer to walk with him. She stumbled.
"Here, put your arms across my shoulder," he offered some aid.
After walking for a short while, Quistis started pushing Seifer away. "Nggh... I can walk by myself..."
"Quistis, just stop it! Can't you see I got problems myself here?!" He too wasn't in a good condition. But at least better than her. With Quistis being annoying like that, they couldn't walk straight and she bumped into someone. Quistis's glasses fell on the street and the man accidentally stepped on them.
"Hey! My glasses! Watch where you goin'!" she yelled at the man.
"Wait a minute here, lady! You're the one who should be watching where you goin'!" the man got angry.
Oh, Hyne! Not now... Seifer complained inside his mind. Without anymore thinking, he drew his gunblade enough to show the man that he has no intention to have any chaos around at the moment. The man got his point and left them alone.
"You should thank your boyfriend!" the man said to Quistis.
"Oh, no, my glasses..." she bent down to pick them up.
"Leave it, Quistis..."
They started walking again...
"Hey, babe, nice weapon you got there... I bet you got some more in your pants..." they saw a couple of girls who were giggling upfront. They were obviously some nightwalkers. The way they were dressed gave out the clue.
I thought they had already cleaned them out from the street. Seifer grumbled.
As he and Quistis approached, they teased him again. "Why don't you just leave your drunk girlfriend and play with us instead?" They were showing off too much flesh for Seifer's half-drunken mind. This is not good! But he just ignored and passed them away. He and Quistis continued to walk without anymore disturbance.
.
.
.
"Hey," Quistis was clinging onto him. They had almost reached the Garden now. They had been WALKING all the way and it seemed like more than just hours for them. "Those girls liked you, you know."
"So?!"
"Why didn't you left me and play with them instead back then? I bet they'd let you have 'em easily..." she stressed on the word play.
"What do you think I am, Quistis?! I'm not that kind of idiotic guy!"
"Okay, okay, I was just joking!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, he saw her drinking from a bottle.
"Quistis! Where the hell did you--?" he snatched the bottle from her. She protested.
"I snatched it from the bar table before you lifted me up. In case you didn't notice, I've been drinking it all the way..."
"Shit, man! You're completely drunk now, you know that!" he threw the bottle away from her.
"No I'm not!" she denied.
Seifer realized that he must have had been drunk enough not to notice that bottle. He sighed... he could still think though. But Seifer was tired. His face flushed from the heat the alcohol had created earlier. The lights from Balamb Garden didn't hide it.
"Your face is red," she said. "You know what? I think I saw you blushed too when those girls talked about your weapon—your other weapon," she teased.
"Shut up, Quistis! I'm not interested at them!" Either way, he blushed even more at the mention of the other weapon.
"Yeah, right!" She chuckled. "Guys are easy to figure out. And did you see the way they were dressed? You guys like those sort of flesh display, don't you?"
"Well, not me!" He didn't like the way Quistis was talking about it. "Hey, do you wanna walk by your own?"
"I can handle that." He let go from Seifer and tried to walk by herself but failing miserably. She almost fell to the ground, and being reflexive, Seifer caught her. Her back fell right onto his chest.
"Watch it--"
Seifer then realized that his right palm was resting on something soft. Too soft for the body of a well-trained SeeD. Quistis hadn't budged a bit since he caught her in his arms; they both hadn't. Seifer thought he had figured out what his right palm was holding, while his other arm was just across her stomach—holding her to him. More blush crept up his face ever since he had realized WHAT he was holding. Of course, Quistis couldn't see the blush, now that Seifer was facing her back. They stayed for quite a while like that with their alcohol-influenced minds, which wasn't good at all—especially for Seifer. In his state right now, he wouldn't want anything like this to trigger his body into heating up even more. He was already half-drunk at the least.
She looked up at him from the side.
He hadn't realized it before. Maybe it was because he had never looked into her eyes when they spoke this whole night. But her eyes actually sparkled. It must have had always been hidden by the glasses. Maybe it was a good thing that her glasses broke on the street. Now he could see the beautiful shimmering blues. Why the hell am I being dumbfounded like this all of a sudden? It had to be some stupid alcohol effect! Making big things out of a small matter.
"Well..." Quistis found her voice back after staying in Seifer's arms like that for quite some while. She could see Seifer's blushing face now. "Aren't you gonna let go of me?"
"Huh?" Apparently, Seifer hadn't found his conscience back since he...
"Don't tell me that your hand is actually being comfortable here on my breast, Seifer!" She chuckled. On a normal state... she would be slapping him.
Her last remark finally brought him back. "Wh- what are you saying?" He released his palm. "Look, don't get any ideas, okay!"
She just chuckled and turned her body to face him. "If there's anyone who's getting ideas, it's not me, Seifer, it's you." She stopped her sentence as she noticed something. Again, she chuckled. Seifer didn't get it. "It seems that your hands have been comfortable in all the right places tonight. Isn't it right, Seifer?"
"What do you mean?"
She motioned her head for him to check out his other hand, which was... resting on her butt... It happened that his other hand had accidentally rested there while she was turning her body. "Man, ain't someone blushing hard..." she teased.
He quickly released it too, which made Quistis lost her balance. But she took the initiative to cling her arms upon his neck. And as it felt like she was pulling his neck down, he grabbed her to help her up a bit—this time making sure that his hands are on her waist. "Uh... c'mon, let's hurry up. We'll have to sneak inside. It's way past curfew." Seifer tried hard not to look at her. Their faces were too close he could feel her breath on his neck. "Do you think you can walk by your own now?" Her breath was warm. And her face was still flushed from the alcohol.
"Mmm... I don't feel like walking..."
"Gosh, Quistis! You're even more annoying than Rinoa when you're drunk!"
"I am not drunk..."
"Yeah, sure!" He sighed. "Oh, well, I guess I'll have to carry you inside." He bended down, making her almost stumbled again. "Hop on my back," he said.
Quistis only blinked and did what she was told, and circled her arms across his shoulders. When she had hopped onto his back, her skirt had also slid up her thighs, which made Seifer's hands brush against them. This was bad for him, but he tried his hardest to ignore it. Yup! He'd just have to carry her back to the dorm, make sure that she falls asleep straight away without any disturbance a drunk person could cause, and that nobody sees them breaking the curfew. It would be bad for the perfect Quistis Trepe's reputation to get caught like this, wouldn't it? As for his, he couldn't care much. He was already known as a bad-ass, wasn't he? He felt like a baby-sitter all of a sudden. It was unusual for him to do some little caring for someone. He would usually leave them like that. Maybe it was one chance for Seifer to show that he wasn't all that bad. Besides, if he then regretted his kindness for ruining his bad image, nobody was there to know, and she was drunk, so she might not even remember. Right? He assured himself so.
T.B.C.
As usual, please tell me what you think... tell me if there's any grammatical mistakes, spellings, etc... I also realize that I got a lack of vocabulary (please forgive me). Flames are welcome. But, please be constructive. And thanks for reading.......!!! ^_^
Additional note: If you find the display of this fic (the formatting) annoying, please refer to my author's biography in authors directory for the explanation. This has something to do with ffnet's new uploading policy. I'm so, so, so, so sorry for the inconvenience.
