***** II - At The Balamb's Café *****

In front of the establishment were parked several vehicles. There was Irvine's bright-red Mustang convertible, with a Powerpuff Girl key-chain adorning the rear-view mirror (Buttercup, because her dark hair and green eyes reminded him of Selphie).

Squall and Rinoa had opted for a blue minivan, which came in handy with their newborn baby, Lagos (named after his granddaddy). Quistis silver Ulti-SC, which was a popular compact hatchback, was also there.

Zell's yellow and black coupe was beside Raijin's Harley. The big guy's motorcycle harbored two helmets, for he had hooked up with Xu lately.

Selphie, who was so good at piloting the Ragnarok, was under a permanent legal interdiction when it came to driving on solid ground. It was all due to a few unfortunate incidents, and a little misunderstanding with the authorities – according to Miss Tilmitt. She didn't care that much anyway, mostly because Irvine drove her wherever she wanted.

They all turned their heads, as they saw Fujin and Seifer pushing his old Rextaur-Alenz into the parking lot. The albino woman was very obviously not happy at her husband, who made a show of locking the wreck carefully before offering his arm to her.

Fujin not only brushed him off, but also shot Seifer such a death-glare that they all thought that if she had had two eyes, the poor guy would have been turned to dust on the spot.

There was actually steam coming from under the Rextaur-Alenz's hood. An alarming puddle, of some gooey substance, was also forming underneath it.

"Hi guys." Greeted Seifer cheerfully, while Fujin took a seat as far away from him as possible.

"Say, Partner," Inquired Irvine, "Don't yah just got yerself one of those new Mjolnir-JTs?"

"Yeah, but I'll never bring it into THIS neighborhood, much too dangerous around here." Replied the blond man.

Rinoa started at this, "What are you talking about? We live two blocks away, and never had any problems."

Seifer looked at the dark-haired woman, "Well, Rinoa. You were the one that told me that your car got scratched in front of your apartment."

She rolled her eyes, before responding, "That was when I lived in Timber, and there was a war going on at the time, by Hyne!"

He was unconvinced, "That only proves that you tend to live in bad neighborhoods, with high criminality rates."

They all looked at the gunblade specialist in disbelief. With some measure of amusement at Seifer's attitude, Zell decided to add his two cents.

The martial artist intervened, "Come on. I live near here too, and nobody has ever touched my car."

"That's because it's an old thing," Answered Seifer, "And no self-respecting thief would even consider getting near it."

The martial artist was not that easily dismissed, "And what about that piece of junk you call a car? You would have to PAY a thief to take it, and even then you would be hard put to find a sucker."  ^_&^  [ & is Zell's tattoo ]

"He! I'll have you know that the Rextaur-Alenz is a classic, and it still runs like a charm," Replied Seifer defensively, "I could probably get a good 5000 Gil for it."

At this they all burst out in laughter, even Squall and Fujin. Zell and Selphie actually fell from their chairs, holding their sides.

Quistis managed to regain some self-control. After breathing deeply a couple of times, she told a very offended Seifer, "You got to be kidding!" *laugher* "You'll be lucky if it makes it to the junkyard!" *cries from laughing* "Poor Fujin had to push that thing here, for Hyne's sake!" *chokes from laughter*

The blond man's face went a colorful red shade, "It just overheated a little. These things have to be treated with the utmost care. I'm ready to bet that I can still drive it to Deling City and back, several times."

Raijin remarked, "Yeah, yah know! With Fujin pushing it back and forth, yah know!"

This sent all present into another fit of hilarity, and earned the dark guy a playful punch from the albino woman. Seifer's frown deepened even more…

Xu wiped tears from her eyes, "Good one, Raij! No offense Fuji, but why do you put up with this? You guys have a brand new car, by Orlandu's nose-hairs!" *laughter* "And you're still driving in that old piece of trash?" *nearly falls of her chair*

Seifer got up, obviously frustrated at his friends' lack of common sense in this matter, "Come Fuji, we don't have to stay here and be insulted in such a brainless fashion."

"NEGATIVE." Replied the fair woman, grinning, looking at Seifer then at the Rextaur-Alenz, and finally collapsing on the table from laughter.

The tall, blond man walked out on the parking lot, with all the dignity he could muster. Once inside the car all his efforts to get it started were unsuccessful, and so he proceeded to push it home. He did his best to ignore the hilarity of his so-called friends, and his traitorous wife.

But the evening was not over – not by a long shot...

**********

To Be Continued