Just Comrades

"You know your just gonna lose!" Seifer taunted his opponent casually. Sweat dripped through his hairline and into his intense green eyes. His coat whirled around him ceremoniously as his gunblade slashed at the muscular boy he fought so forcefully.

Zell smiled wryly at him. They had been practicing together for a year and a half. Seifer usually won the battles but Zell never let him off without a worthy struggle. Now trained in both the marshal arts and armaments he very rarely used the deadly automatic pistols that hung loosely around his hips in practice.

This battle could go either way; both competitors had almost all of their HP. Seifer smirked contentedly as he caught his challenger of guard. The spunky blond quickly retaliated with a pitiless blow to the chin.

The wallop set him off balance just in time for Zell to kick Seifer's beloved weapon out of his firm grip. Zell laughed in delight as he knocked him, defeated, to the ground. "Now do you see the importance of training in unarmed combat?" Zell asked laying the tip of his boot on Seifer's heaving chest.

Seifer raised his hands defensively into the air as he began to stand up. "Ok, Ok, you win this time." He forced a chuckle.

"Nuh-uh," Zell said motioning for him to stay on the floor, "Not this time. You stay right where you are, Mr. Almasy."

Seifer gave his long-time cohort a puzzled look but remained on the ground as he was told. The boxer walked around behind him. "My, my look who didn't win the fight…" he mused.

"Hey, you beat me. ONCE. Don't let it get to your head alright." Seifer began to turn around but stopped at the feeling of something cold and hard at his temple. He looked over to see the barrel of one of Zell's shiny pistols resting precariously by the side of his head.

The wicked smile on Zell's tattooed face began to worry Seifer immensely; he had never seen this side of him before. "Hey now, let's not go all postal here-"

"Shhhh!" Zell silenced him with a single sound. "Strip."

"What!?!" Seifer couldn't believe his ears.

"Shhhh!" He commanded again. "You heard me. Strip. Everything. Now."

Seifer stared motionless at his battle partner with a look of sheer disbelief. Ever since the incident two years ago, Zell had been the only one who would even talk to him. Of course, he had never been anything more than a combat companion. 'Maybe there was something more', he wondered, 'Maybe he's hinting to me. Pretty strong hint.' He smiled.

Zell cocked the gun next to his head menacingly. "Don't make me say it again." Seifer heard in the tone of his voice that he meant business and gingerly shrugged out of his long gray trench coat. He slowly began to unhook his blue vest. "Hurry," Zell said with a hint of a smile in his voice. Seifer looked up at him with a glimmer of hope but Zell rewarded him by knocking the gun lightly into his forehead. "Ow," Seifer said lamely.

Seifer removed his shirt and stopped. Zell took a moment to admire the taller man's muscular chest before instructing him to continue. Biting his lip, Seifer pulled his heavy boots off his feet and threw them off to the side. He slowly stood up and slid his waist height suit pants off his hips.

The smaller man smiled at him malevolently as he said, "Ok Honey. You're almost done." Seifer glared at him, pleading for mercy with his eyes. Zell never let him out of the site of his Automatic.

He closed his eyes and quickly removed his boxers. "There." He said through clenched teeth, "Are you happy?" He was shocked, however to see that Zell had gathered every piece of his clothing bundled tightly in his arms as he ran towards the exit of the room. "HEY!" Seifer cried, "Get back here with those!!" Seifer bounded after the blond thief but was too late, Zell ran into the hallway of the Balamb Garden training center.

As he ran through the corridors Zell couldn't help but grin. He heard the sound of Seifer's bare feet slapping on the tile floor behind him.

Seifer looked around as he ran, trying desperately to cover his manhood with a flowerpot he picked up on his way past the library. He made a special note of thanks to the fact that it was past curfew so the halls were generally empty. Seifer spotted his clothes-stealing partner as he ran hastily into the dorms.

The marshal artist paused a second and contemplated what to do. Just outside his dorm room, he dropped Seifer's clothing into a heap and quickly stepped inside, shutting the door. 'Phew.' He thought, his heart pounding heavily in his chest, 'what's gotten into me?' he held his breath as he heard Seifer approach, 'he'll just pick up his clothes and leave' Zell thought (hopeful), 'He would never come into my dorm.' Seifer had truly never set foot in Zell's room; it had always seemed inappropriate. They were just comrades.

Seifer was closing in on the other man's room, he was shocked to see Zell drop his clothes and run inside. He smiled evilly as he stepped over the clothing. (After running nude through the halls of his school and home, he had more on his agenda than just retrieving his stolen items). He slammed his entire weight into the door after dropping the flowerpot carelessly to the ground.

He was pleased to find his tormentor sitting, with a shocked expression on his tattooed (and now strangely alluring) face, on his bed, out of breath. "Hello!" he said angrily jerking the pugilist to his feet. Seifer kicked the door behind him shut. "That was quite a stunt you pulled back there." He grabbed Zell's wrists and pinned him to the wall.

Zell grimaced and tried to kick and squirm loose but the larger male form towered over him and pinned him firmly. "Now do you see the importance of weight training?" he purred into Zell's ear. Zell struggled in vain against Seifer's mass. "Now it's my turn!" he said taking the shorter blond by surprise and kissing him full on the mouth. Zell stared at him, alarmed. Seifer pulled Zell's weapons out of their holsters and threw them behind him. Zell smiled surreptitiously to himself and secretly thought, 'I've gotta start winning these weekend battles more often!'