Rating

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Still don't own FF8 or Wendy's...

A/N: "Unclean! Unclean!" Know that line? From Dracula, when Mina is bitten and gets burned with the little wafer and it leaves a mark her her forehead that won't go away until she's human again? The mark is like, a sign of her sin...and it makes her dirty...so she yells "Unclean!" when she sees herself. That's the kind of dirty Seifer refers to in the.....erm....shower.

Chapter 7: Lilacs

"Damn," Seifer threw down his helmet and closed the door behind him. "That was one long fucking day!" He was covered in mud and his dark hair was plastered to his head. "Rained the whole day...it was like wandering around a damn mud pit out there!" Sighing, he started toward the closet.

"Take off your boots."

"What?" He stopped to look at Quistis who was sitting on the bed picking through a basket.

"I said, take off your boots," she repeated, looking up only momentarily.

"Why?"

"Because they're muddy."

"So what?"

"I have to live here too, and the least you can do is take off your muddy boots." She shook her head at him, the action silently saying idiot. A little perturbed by her housewife act, he plopped down onto the floor and started unlacing his boots.

"I'm the one out there in the rain and mud," he grumbled. "Actually doing something. The least you could do is clean up a little mud." Seifer's day had been unreasonably long. The storm that moved in during the night had clung to the skies, pouring water on them and rumbling with unease. Not only had he trained in the mud, but he'd been forced to perform physically straining tasks in it.

Move this big heavy thing from point A to point B...oh, and don't get it muddy.

His mind rolled over the various things he'd done, accenting each job with the appropriate curse word. His muscles ached, his mind was humming with sheer boredom, and he was more than just a little pissed off.

"Am I allowed to change out of my uniform now, Quistis?" he asked. "Or, would you rather I just stay in it. Oh! How about this! I could just stand here and dance around for you like a fucking court jester...all at your command."

"Seifer..." she looked up at him for the second time. "Just get changed...we have things to do yet."

"Things to do?" he asked. "Like what? Where'd you get the basket?"

"We're going out to dinner," she replied.

"Going out to dinner? Why? We don't have the kind of money to be going out for dinner just because you can't swallow some army food..." he could feel his mouth getting away with him, and had to force himself not to continue.

"I met two of the other army wives today," she said with amazing calm, "and they invited us out to dinner tonight. I don't know where they intend for us to go...but, it seems like a good idea to get in well with them. Their husbands, I suspect, will be stationed soon and probably have a good handle on what the army is currently planning."

"Damn..." he didn't get up from where he'd sat down on the floor, but collapsed onto his back. "Did you get towels? I'd kill for a shower."

"Yeah, they brought some over for us," she shrugged. "They also brought the basket."

"Yeah?" he rolled onto his side so he could look at her. "What's in it?"

"You don't want to know..." she smiled.

Smile...had that been a smile? Seifer hadn't seen her smile in a long time. Quistis showed her depression and her anger, but she so rarely showed her joy. She was conservative as hell, and it bothered him. She made him uncomfortable because he could never tell quite where he stood with her. She'd said that she hated him, but she also hadn't bit his head off sleeping beside her as he'd thought she would.

"Sure I do," he insisted.

"No...I don't think you do."

"Humor me."

"Feminine things..." she replied vaguely.

"Fine," Seifer rolled his eyes. "Keep your little basket to yourself. I'm going to shower before this stupid, fucking dinner. Next time how about you think whether or not your husband will want to go before you just off and say that he will."

Without waiting for her reply - he was inclined to believe that she probably wouldn't give one - he heaved himself up onto his feet and retrieved a change of clothes. It took him a few moments to figure out that Quistis had put things away, and he found his bag sitting in the bottom of the closet.

She'd been in the bathroom as well. The bath tub was now equipped with girly smelling soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Frowning to himself, he closed the door and peeled off his uniform. Cringing with distaste, he put the disgusting thing in the sink, figuring that Quistis would probably wash it for him if he left it there long enough. She was anal like that...she liked to have everything her way and on her terms.

Grinning to himself a little, he turned on the water. Seconds later, he was standing under the hot spray, letting it pound rhythmically against his back. A long, feathery sigh escaped him, and he leaned against the shower wall, watching dirt go down the drain. Seifer had never really felt like he was as good as other people. They had families, people who cared about them unconditionally...all the things he'd never had. Still, he couldn't remember ever feeling really ashamed of himself until after the ordeal with Ultimecia. He'd felt unwanted and hated before, but he'd never felt dirty.

His grin faded, turning into a hard-mouthed grimace.

Angry at himself for his weakness - hell, angry at the world - he snapped out of his reverie and grabbed the shampoo, paying no never mind that it was lilac scented. Squeezing a healthy portion of the purple goo into his hand, he started a lather in his hair. His fingers dug into his scalp, leaving little trails of pain behind them. There was a kind of pain that lived deep within him, an aching, open wound that had yet to be addressed. He tended to ignore it, but it was growing and dripping with self-loathing, guilt, and anger.

The flowery scent of the shampoo hung in the hot, humid air and surrounded him. He'd always wondered what the sweet smell was that clung incessantly to Quistis, tingling at his senses every time she was near him. Now, he knew. Shampoo...he'd never even dreamed it would be something as simple as shampoo.

"Great...now I'll smell like a woman too," he grumbled to himself. Flowers were great on women, strange on men. He knew she'd laugh at him.

He grabbed the conditioner and looked at it for a moment with genuine curiosity. He'd never used conditioner...never really needed to. Sometimes he'd use to two in one stuff, but he'd certainly never used purple, lilac scented, moisturizing conditioner. Experimentally, he squeezed some into his hand and started rubbing it into his hair. It didn't lather like it thought it was going to, but, undaunted, he continued. When he finally went to rinse it out, he couldn't help but smile at how it made his hair feel slick and smooth. Maybe girls had the right idea - not that he intended to become as hair oriented as Squall, but his mind was quickly forming elaborate fantasies of girls running their fingers through his hair.

Shrugging off his wild thoughts, he got back on task. Quistis would be nothing short of pissed if he wasn't ready to go when the other two women showed up to take them out for dinner. He didn't want to go - Hyne, how he didn't want to go - but the sooner they could get back to Garden the better.

***

"Hi! I'm Ann...and this is my husband Greg!" Quistis crossed her fingers behind her back as Seifer greeted the couple.

"Nice to meet you," he grinned charmingly, his hair still wet from his shower. "I'm Seifer...you've already met my wife Quistis..."

"Yep! Hi, Quistis!" Ann waved her chunky little arm. Her husband, Greg, was similarly shaped. His rotund body looked like it had been fed a little too much, most of it ending up hanging over his belt. Seifer towered over him and looked incredibly fit standing next to the chubby couple.

"Where's Pita?" Quistis asked, coming up to stand beside Seifer. They'd decided that it would be easier for them to use his real name. Few of the people in Galbadia had known his real, full name anyway. He was infamous as The Sorceress' Knight...not as Seifer Almasy.

"Oh, she's running a little late, so they'll be joining us in town," Ann replied.

"Oh, where are we going?"

"There's this little tiny town just east of here...pretty much consists of a couple houses, a general store, and a bar that also serves as a restaurant and night club."

"How quaint," Seifer smiled down at Quistis. "Ready to go, Honey?" His fingers bit into her arm, and she was well aware of the fact that he didn't want to go. He couldn't throw a fit in front of Ann and Greg though, so she just smiled back up at him.

"Yep," she said cheerily.

They walked out to Ann and Greg's rented car in relative silence. Seifer would smile down at her from time to time, or grab her hand and squeeze it when the other couple was looking. As soon as they turned away, his smile transformed into an angry glare.

"If these people pull through for us," she whispered to him as they climbed into the car, "then it's all the sooner that we're out of each others' hair. So don't have such a crappy attitude toward the whole thing."

"I had a long day," he whispered back, "and I'm tired. I'd like to be sleeping right about now."

"Oh, Seifer Almasy, one of the best fighters on the face of the planet is tuckered out from a little basic training?" she laughed a little. "You must be getting soft."

"So...Seifer..." Ann interrupted them as he was about to reply. "Have you been thinking about what to name the baby? I told Quistis that finding a good name is the most important thing."

"A name?" he looked down at Quistis for a moment before meeting Ann's eager eyes again. "Uh...actually...I hadn't really thought about that yet."

"Haven't thought about it?" Ann shook her head with disapproval. "You two...what have you been doing for the past month?" Seifer shifted his weight with uncomfort and shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess we probably should start thinking about it..." he muttered. The rest of the journey was filled with idle chatter. They talked about the storm and about the car. If the ride hadn't been so short, they would have run out of small talk. However, as the car lurched to a stop, Seifer and Quistis both gave a sigh of relief.

The bar/restaurant/night club was filled with people - presumably almost the entire population of the town. It was dimly lit and smelled vaguely of pine. The distinction between patron and employee was blurry, and Quistis had a hard time picking out who was a waitress and who was just a wandering customer. Ann and Greg led the way to an empty table and various people greeted them as they walked by. Apparently, they were frequent customers.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that everyone in the restaurant knows them?" Seifer chuckled under his breath. Quistis didn't rebuke him simply because she'd been thinking along the same lines.

"Pita and Andy will be here soon," Ann announced as they sat down. "So, we'll just order while we wait."

When a waitress finally came over, a notepad in her hand and a pair of black rimmed reading glasses perched on her nose, Ann and Greg were ready to order one of everything on the menu. A distant smile gracing her lips, the waitress patiently wrote down their long orders, prompting them with questions like "Soup, or salad?" and "Did you want a side with that?" When she finally turned to Quistis and Seifer, they were both gaping at the couple sitting across from them.

"Um...I'll just have the soup and a glass of lemonade," Quistis announced.

"And I'm going with the special," Seifer added in.

"Nothing to drink?" the waitress asked, looking at him over the top of her glasses. "We've got some killer drinks on tap."

"No thanks...I'll just have water."

"You sure?" she pressured. "I could get you a daiquiri or something if that's what your into."

"No, that's okay," he replied calmly. Shrugging, the waitress breezed off with the hefty order, weaving in between tables and people.

"No wonder you two are skin and bones," Ann shook her head. "You hardly eat!"

Pita and her husband arrived right before the waitress returned with three other waitresses in tow, the last of which carried Seifer and Quistis' meager meals. Pita and Andy put in their orders, and the table fell awkwardly silent as Ann and Greg dug into their food. It was an amazing feat of nature to watch the two eat. Spoonful after forkful of food entered their mouths to be chewed, swallowed, and followed by another helping. The chatty Ann didn't make a sound, the only noise coming from her direction being the scrape of fork against plate.

"So, Seifer," Pita leaned back in her chair and regarded him with a long look. "How was your day? Andy said that today was pretty much Hell...not really a good way to start things off."

"Yeah, it was pretty bad," he nodded and took a long drink of water. "The mud was awful, made it really tough to get around."

"So I heard," she nodded, then turned her attention to Quistis. "How about you, Quistis. Did you look through the basket?"

"Yeah...I did," she blushed.

"Oh, so you found it then?" Pita grinned.

"Yeah." It had been at the bottom of the basket, underneath all of the flowery soaps and feminine supplies. A tiny, provocative piece of sexy black lingerie. The lacy garment looked tiny and was obviously one that showed more than just a little skin. Quistis had no idea what to do with it, if she took it back to Garden and someone discovered that she had it, the teasing would be relentless.

"Oh, good," Pita smiled. "Did it fit?"

"Yeah..." Quistis lied, she hadn't tried it on. In fact, she'd done little more than hold it up in the air and look at it. Seifer gave her a curious look, but she avoided eye contact with him.

"Wow...that was excellent!" Ann sat back in her chair and rubbed her stomach. "How was yours, Sweetie?"

"Good," Greg nodded. It was the first word he'd said all night, and Quistis had the feeling that Ann was a very dominant wife.

"It's really so hard to find good women's stuff on an army base," Pita continued on her last train of thought without even paying attention to the other couple. "Especially things like that!"

"Greg...let's dance!" Ann jumped up, grabbing her husband's hand. Quistis glanced up from her soup bowl to watch them, amazed at their energy after having eaten a meal that could have kept her well fed for days. Seifer also seemed shocked, and they exchanged glances as they finished off their food.

"You two can go and dance if you want," Pita offered, seeing them both watching the dance floor. "We won't mind." She offered her husband a sweet smile that he returned ten fold.

"Oh...I don't really dance..." Quistis shook her head.

"Sure you do, everybody does," Andy tossed in. "Seriously, don't feel like we're holding you back." The couple took one another's hands, and exchanged happy smiles once again.

"I think they want to be alone..." Seifer whispered. "Let's go."

"But...Seifer!" she protested as he pulled her up onto her feet. Holding her hand tightly in his, he led her out among the other couples and turned to face her.

"This is dumb," she announced.

"No kidding," he replied. "But we need to talk." He gave her arm a solid jerk, pulling her toward him. Frowning, Quistis didn't fight him. It would only draw unwanted attention to them. Raising her hands, she slipped her arms under his and held onto the back of his shoulders as they started to sway to the music.

"Now, what's so important that it can't wait?" she demanded through clenched teeth.

"You're getting attached," he replied. "They're the enemy, you need to remember that."

"Seifer, it's not like we're going to kill them or anything," she rolled her eyes.

"If we get found out, we might have to do a little killing," he reminded her. "Or, they might kill us. You've got to remember that they aren't your friends! You don't have friends here, Quistis."

"Who says I'm getting attached anyway?" she demanded. "You're jumping to conclusions...always assuming things about me!"

"Okay, then tell me this," he leaned his head back a little. "Could you hit either Greg or Andy with your whip? Could you cast death on them?"

"That's morbid," she shook her head.

"What's so morbid about it?" he asked. "You've done it before. You fought against me, and that didn't seem to bother you."

"You were trying to kill me at the time," she reminded him.

"So," he tightened his grip on her waist a little as a few other couples got a little too close. He lowered his voice and his head until he was whispering in her ear. "Quistis...this is why you were a bad instructor, why you're a bad leader now...you're too wrapped up in things. Think with your head. They are the enemy...our going out to dinner with them isn't a social event, it's subterfuge. We're spies."

Quistis sighed.

"They're nice people, Seifer," she replied. "I can't just look at them through hate blinders like you do."

"Damn it," he shifted his weight. "Do you have to be such a fucking control freak that you can't even take good advice when your given it?"

"I'm not a control freak."

"You are."

"Well, then, so are you," she retorted. "You couldn't take an order if your life depended on it."

"I know!" he replied. "At least I can admit it!"

They fell silent as their argument began to catch the attention of others. Quistis sighed again and tucked her head up by his shoulder, attempting to look peaceful in his embrace. Inside, she felt anything but peaceful. She was angry, partly because she knew he was right and partly because she didn't want him to be. It was hard to think of an enemy in anything more than two dimensions. They didn't have families, they didn't have personalities. They were just the enemy, simple and easy.

As she took in a deep breath, a soft scent tingled at her nose. It was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Curiously, she sniffed the air again.

It was coming from Seifer.

"Seifer...what...?" she started sniffing at his shoulder curiously, then stood on her tip toes, almost having to climb up on him to get to his hair. He jerked away from her, but she persistently pursued his head, going as far as to pull it down toward her with her free hand.

She pulled back suddenly and laughed when her senses identified the vague scent - lilacs.

"Seifer...did you use my shampoo?"