A/N: Gosh, this is a disjointed little fic. Certainly not my best, sorry for that...I just haven't had the time to spend on it I though I would have when I started it. But, I will finish it! Just a matter of time.
Chapter 10: Setting Out
Seifer watched Quistis wrap a long, furry coat around her shoulders. She was getting ready to leave, and he was sitting on her floor with his hands tied behind his back. He wasn't sure when she was planning on letting him bundle up. Her golden, blonde hair was secured firmly behind her head, tied into a elegant looking ponytail. The sheen of her hair was abruptly obscured from his vision by the fur lined hood.
"I don't know how you're planning on getting out of here," he shook his head. "You really think you can get through any of the passes?"
"We're going to try," she replied stubbornly.
"We?" he arched an eyebrow. "Does that mean I might get to put on a coat at some point?"
"Don't be smart with me," she snapped, sending a sharp look in his direction. A few delicate fingers on her right hand twitched beside her whip, which was anchored to her hip on the outside of her coat. Not overly fond of the trademark scar slashed across the bridge of his nose, Seifer didn't feel particularly inclined to test her patience. The incident with Squall was one he found himself looking back on more and more often. He was the one who'd gotten in trouble for injuring his partner, while everyone seemed to forget that the poor, defenseless Squall had drawn just as much blood that morning. Seifer was back in class, the flow of blood hardly staunched from his face, only to have Quistis Trepe yell at him for his infraction.
In a nutshell, that was the story of Seifer's life. An orphan as long as he could remember, even his parents had cast the shadow of doubt upon his character. It was little surprise to him that he'd grown into the monster so many people had believed him to be. There was a secret little part of him which liked to believe, from time to time, that he wasn't so bad as everyone made him out to be. Then the blood thirst would overwhelm him, and he would be forced to confront his own devilish soul.
"Back to Garden?" he asked, looking across the room where his gunblade was resting against the cool wooden floor. A tawny shroud covered it, but he could practically taste the metal and feel the weight of it in his bound hands. He wondered dismally if Quistis had any idea what seeing Hyperion so close at hand was doing to him. On the down side of his musing, he questioned whether or not she cared.
"Those would be my orders," she shrugged.
"Do you get a piece of the bounty?"
"I suppose I would be entitled to at least a share," she replied, not even turning to look at him as she continued to shove personal items into her pack. She had done him the favor of already packing his small number of worldly possessions. For some reason, it made Seifer embarrassed to think that she'd packed up his socks and underwear. Even though he admittedly would have flashed them to her if he thought it would unnerve her, it seemed like a vast invasion of his privacy for her to see them without his offering. Chewing bitterly at his bottom lip he tried to push the thought out of his mind.
"Miss Trepe?" Treban's face peeked into the room, his dark eyes resting momentarily on the rounded curve of Quistis' behind before she righted her stance to face him.
"Yes?"
"About your payment for the room..." He stepped full into the doorway, scratching his protruding belly. He was a disgusting, backward specimen of a man. Fully the type to own a dirty little tavern, he often smelled strong of the grain he made his select choice of drink out of, and he even more often smelled of the drink itself. Seifer, contrary to the opinion of many, wasn't a big drinker. Truth be told, he couldn't afford to be. Time to time he would ease his body from the Trabian cold, but becoming mentally incapacitated was akin to a death wish.
"Right, the room," Quistis brushed her hands along her heavily knit sweater. "When I get to the next town and can receive my back pay from Garden, I will be sure to have a share of it forwarded to you."
"Well, that wasn't quite what I wanted to discuss," he admitted.
"What then?" Quistis asked, her stance becoming noticeably more ridged from Seifer's point of view. He could hardly hide his smile. Quistis had gained some spunk since he'd last seen her, accumulated along with all the other changes to her persona. All things considered, she was really rather...likable.
"Your room is on the house," he cracked a little smile, the effort crinkling the skin around his eyes.
"How very kind of you," Quistis relaxed. Feeling like a fly on the wall, Seifer shifted his weight uncomfortably and couldn't help offering a comment of his own.
"Let me guess," he grinned, "You have another form of payment in mind?"
The look Treban sent Seifer's way was nothing short of flaming with embarrassment and anger.
"Actually," spittle flew out of Treban's mouth as he spoke, "I was going to propose getting a share of the reward for your sorry hide."
"You want the bounty?" Quistis sounded genuinely surprised.
"Well, I was instrumental in his capture," Treban pointed out. Seifer turned his gaze to Quistis, wondering if she would fall for the man's trick. He'd been about as instrumental as a broken piano. As far as Seifer was concerned, his capture had been due partly to his own stupidity and partly to Quistis' perseverance. Somehow, it was easier for him to admit defeat to Quistis than to some Trabian bumpkin.
"I'll be sure to make that suggestion to the Garden staff," she smiled. Quistis was remarkably feminine in every way, but there was an intimidating air to her that pushed Treban back out the door without another word. She had hardened since her years as an instructor. Of course, years had passed since then and Quistis had become a woman in her own right. Seifer couldn't even begin to guess what all had transpired in the time he'd been away to forge her new, but eerily familiar, persona.
The snow had stopped melting, but it had gotten heavy enough for Treban, Slim, and Cam to finally succeed in their digging project. Early in the morning they'd reached fresh air and raised a cheer that woke both himself and Quistis. He'd been banished back to the floor indefinitely as Quistis once again began to question her control over him.
The air in her little room was practically shuddering with leashed energy. They'd been trapped a little to long for either of their tastes, and even knowing what it meant for him, Seifer was relieved to be leaving. Naturally, he had not yet relinquished himself to the mercy of the Garden staff. He'd been able to gather enough winter survival information from Treban to ensure give himself a fighting chance out in the cold. If Quistis lost him, or if he were able to escape from her, she'd have little hope of finding him again. Seifer didn't have to be bitten twice before he learned his lesson.
Quistis leaned down, pushing him slightly forward with one hand and pulled at the knot between his own. He hadn't missed being tied up at all, and he had to fight the part of him that wanted to knock her down right there and run for the hills. It was a sour note to his stomach that Quistis was the one to lead him into death, perhaps the one person in the world he hadn't prepared himself for. She was the sensitive one, the one who was drawn into herself and looking for acceptance from others. Quistis was not brutal, and he couldn't think of any particular reason she would despise him enough to track him down.
"Get ready to go," she commanded him.
"Yes, Sir." He couldn't help the sneer.
All of his amassed outdoor gear was laying in a pile. The dark, thick coat slid easily over his shoulders. It was even sort of welcoming, as the time he'd spent in it had been filled with a sense of liberation if not tension. The smell of it brought his senses back to the vast, frozen tundra and an aching hunger in his belly. Nothing in his life had ever been easy for him. There was a point when he'd completely stopped trying, or had started to do what others had expected of him...fail. With time and solitude, he'd been able to discover a lot about himself.
Quistis watched him as he buttoned up the coat and complimented it with a pair of matching mittens. Their coats were collectively shedding hair everywhere, but neither of them felt inclined to clean up the mess. So, when he pulled the hood over his head they simply gathered up their things and walked down the old wooden stairs in silence. He didn't doubt that Quistis would bind his hands again before she allowed him out the door. His gunblade was tucked against her back, the handle just protruding behind her head. It was a perilous place for her to put it, but even as he walked down the stairs he couldn't muster the guts to yank it out and drive it through her back.
Cursing silently to himself, wondering where his newfound weakness was coming from, he narrowed his eyes. He would get away from her, that wasn't in question, but he knew he'd have to leave her alive in the process. Quistis was as close as he had to family, in a sick sense of the word.
"Treban, it was nice meeting you," Quistis sent the big man a beaming smile. The other two men had already departed, neither of them pausing on their way out to say goodbye to either Quistis or Seifer. "I'll be sure to get some form of payment to you."
"Oh..." he looked over at Seifer for a moment, "don't worry about it. If I get something, great...and if I don't, no big deal."
"Do you have a map?" she asked, a hopeful look glittering through her eyes. "Mine's not very detailed."
"Nope, afraid not," Treban leaned back against the bar, showing off his superior length to Quistis. Seifer couldn't help but roll his eyes far back in his head. The man never tired of trying to get a little action out of the little instructor, no matter how many times she shot him down. It was almost as bad as the stupid romance novel he'd been reading (which, incidentally, he was almost done with).
"Oh, well...I'm sure I can get by with the one I have," she shrugged. "Got me here." Even as she spoke, she was turning around to tie Seifer's hands together.
"Good luck," Treban smiled warmly.
She was going to need it.
