Notes: Oh, you lucky bastards. I'm writing this chapter instead of studying
for my midterms. Hehe, about this, I always found the part with Squall
talking to the boring editor at Timber Maniacs disturbingly entertaining
for some reason, so I decided to incorporate it into here. Hmm, there might
be less pages in this chapter than usual, but my paragraphs are longer so I
think that makes up for it. :-D God, how I babble. Enjoy Chapter 12! Wish
me luck on my tests!
Quistis had known the minute she stepped into Timber Maniacs that she had made a huge mistake. Seifer had stepped in the building after her, and the cute redheaded receptionist didn't miss a beat on hitting on him. She was displeased, to say the least, at his reaction. His eyes traveled up and down the girl's slim frame, and Quistis herself couldn't help but notice that her dress was buttoned ridiculously low.
"Cute boys like you are always welcome," she giggled into the back of her hand. "Feel free to look around."
"Well, it is certainly nice to feel welcome," Seifer began, leering. "Sure you wouldn't like to, shall we say, show me around yourself?" He raised a suggestive eyebrow.
Quistis curled her upper lip slightly in distaste, and took hold of Seifer's arm.
"There's only two rooms, I'm sure we can handle the exploration on our own," she said coolly, shooting daggers with her eyes up at Seifer.
Zell, who had also been at the building before, walked past them. He gazed longingly at the battle series issues stacked high all around him, but continued into the room ahead. Quistis gave Seifer one last icy look and released his arm. Faced with her withdrawing back, he couldn't help but grin. Her response to his come on had been exactly what he was hoping for. Jealousy.
He'd never been inside Timber Maniacs, but from the looks of it, Quistis and Zell had and they knew what they were doing. Following them into the room, he saw that Quistis was already talking to a man near the window on the far side of the room.
His eyes roved over the room, taking his surroundings in while he approached his partners and the man, who he figured was the editor. Papers were scattered everywhere, unfinished styrofoam cups of coffee littered the desks here and there. The smell of cigars hung heavily in the air. Another man, dressed in a green flannel jacket, turned and grabbed the sleeve of Seifer's trench coat as he tried to walk by.
"Did you say I look like an artist?" he demanded eagerly. "As a matter of fact, I am..."
"Get the hell off me," Seifer snarled as he shrugged the man off his sleeve and stalked away. "Lunatic..." he muttered.
Quistis had noticed their exchange. He studied her face, expecting to see a mocking look written there. Instead, she wore a pleading one. She inclined her head towards the talking editor, eyes clearly shouting 'Save me! Please!'
Seifer wondered about her behavior, but as he got close enough to hear the conversation, he got his answer. The man was going on about how in his day, he didn't have anybody to decode messages. No sir, in *his* day, they had to stay awake far into the wee hours of the night if they wanted to understand something by the next morning. Kids nowadays were just so darn lazy, he mused. Why, if he had ever slept as much as teenagers did today, his mother would just turn over in her grave...
Zell stood in the corner, shadowboxing. For once, Seifer couldn't blame him. He tilted his head back with an annoyed grunt, and stared at the ceiling fan for a few long moments, letting the breeze it created cool his face.
Finally, he fixed his gaze on Quistis. She, as usual, had her arms crossed. She was halfway turned from the editor, eyes focused on the floor. Once in a while, she would give a nod, as if to convince the man that she was listening.
He frowned as the thought of her led to memories of the day before, their kiss on the train. He didn't regret what happened, but wondered how it had come about. Why had he suddenly felt compelled to kiss her? Why had she kissed him back?
The first one really wasn't overly difficult to figure out. Quistis was an attractive woman. And the way she had looked so sad, downcast eyes and pouting lips, well it reminded him of his relationship with Rinoa. Rinoa had always looked that way after a fight with her father, turning to him for support. Seifer had never been very good with words, and the only way he knew of to comfort his girlfriend was to kiss her pain away. It always worked, maybe he thought it would be the same with Quistis.
But it was different, because him and Rinoa had been in a relationship, he and Quistis were not. And he had never felt the urge to cheer her up before. In fact, before this mission, she could be bawling like the sun would never come up again, and he really wouldn't have given a damn. So why, all of a sudden, did he give a damn?
As for Quistis kissing him back, who the hell knew. It was obvious that she was lonely. As far as Seifer knew, she had never had a boyfriend before. Which was surprising, because her shockingly good looks weren't something that most men would turn away. Except for maybe Squall Leonhart.
How ironic that the one man she wanted was the only one who would reject her.
"Oh for Hyne's sake! Will you decode this for us or not?!" Quistis suddenly demanded fiercely, startling Seifer from his reverie.
The room fell silent. The editor stood openmouthed, sentence trailing off his lips. One of Zell's punches stopped in midair as he gaped at her. Seifer, however, was more amused than surprised.
Her left hand was resting in the crook of her hip, her right waving in an impatient gesture. Her bright, azure eyes were narrowed into angry slits, a tiny foreign crease forming between her eyebrows. Whenever Seifer annoyed her, she would quickly come up with a caustic reply. But she had never really *yelled* at him. Come to think of it, he'd never seen her do much more than scold. She never lost her temper. It was rather entertaining.
"Um, sure. I can decode this, no problem miss," the editor said meekly. "Come back tomorrow, it should be ready by then." He then turned his back on them, their signal to leave.
Quistis smirked in satisfaction. It was another never-before-seen thing for Seifer, and an eerily seductive one at that. He cleared his throat, bringing her gaze to him.
She shrugged and smiled guiltily.
"Let's go guys," she gestured to the door.
The receptionist had called out a farewell to Seifer as they left, but he barely noticed. Quistis had an unusual bounce of confidence in her stride, which intrigued him much more than a flighty receptionist did.
"You're my hero, Quistis!" Zell grinned. "Man, you really shut that moron up!"
"Even I can only take so much. And hey, it worked."
"I wonder what's in that magazine," Zell mused, with great interest.
"Don't get too excited, Chicken-wuss. You might have an accident," Seifer smirked.
"Shove it, Seifer," Zell rolled his eyes. He was finally beginning to learn how to brush off Seifer's taunts. He'd need a new person to irritate soon enough. "Hey Quistis, can I use your cell phone?"
"It's only for emergencies," Quistis frowned. "What do you need it for?"
"Well, I kinda want to call Abby, I haven't talked to her in a really long time..." Zell referred to his library girl, a healthy flush crawling up his neck. Quistis smiled with understanding, and removed the carefully clipped cell phone from her belt.
"Thanks Quis! Um, I kind of want some privacy, so I'll catch up with you guys later at the hotel, okay?" Zell didn't bother to wait for an answer, and happily bounded off.
"That's your idea of an emergency?" Seifer rolled his eyes.
"He misses his girlfriend," she shrugged. "I'd do the same if it were you."
"Oh, would you?"
"Yeah..." she said, staring at something over Seifer's shoulder. "Excuse me, Seifer. Timber holds memories for me, there's something I want to check out."
"Memories such as?" Seifer prodded.
"You're smart enough to figure it out," she said seriously. "And if you aren't, you can come with me. The same memory, different points of view."
Seifer matched her pace as she walked towards the pub. What were these, memories of getting drunk? He had no idea about what this 'same memory' was. The hell was she talking about?
He was starting to think that he wasn't smart enough to figure it out, when all of a sudden they walked through the back alley and it hit him full force. They had made the same trip together, oh, it seemed an eternity ago.
She was talking about the day that started her life, and ended his.
Quistis walked in silence, eyes glued to the approaching TV Station. It seemed that one eye was viewing the present, the other the past. She watched herself and Seifer run side by side, encountering security guards and quickly disposing of them. He was out to get Deling's ass, she was out to save Seifer's.
She remembered that day clearly, despite the GFs. After losing her position as instructor, Quistis was appointed baby-sitter to Seifer Almasy in the disciplinary room. He'd asked her where Puberty Boy and Chicken-wuss were off to, and she could still see the mixture of anger and excitement on his face as he ran out to play hero, and earned himself traitor.
She followed, knowing that he would get himself into trouble. The Garden already had a poor opinion of her abilities, and if they found out that she wasn't even capable of baby-sitting Seifer for a couple of hours, she had no hope of ever being an instructor again.
Both of them stopped as they reached the entrance of the TV station. She turned to him, speaking softly.
"Are you ready to face this yet?"
Seifer turned, looking her up and down once before shrugging.
"Can't hide from my past forever."
"That's true," she agreed. "Seifer, if you ever want to talk about it, if you ever want to talk about anything...I'll listen," she offered suddenly.
"...Thanks," he sighed. "I'm ready."
Quistis nodded gravely. They both walked inside, ready to face the memory that neither were particularly fond of.
Quistis had known the minute she stepped into Timber Maniacs that she had made a huge mistake. Seifer had stepped in the building after her, and the cute redheaded receptionist didn't miss a beat on hitting on him. She was displeased, to say the least, at his reaction. His eyes traveled up and down the girl's slim frame, and Quistis herself couldn't help but notice that her dress was buttoned ridiculously low.
"Cute boys like you are always welcome," she giggled into the back of her hand. "Feel free to look around."
"Well, it is certainly nice to feel welcome," Seifer began, leering. "Sure you wouldn't like to, shall we say, show me around yourself?" He raised a suggestive eyebrow.
Quistis curled her upper lip slightly in distaste, and took hold of Seifer's arm.
"There's only two rooms, I'm sure we can handle the exploration on our own," she said coolly, shooting daggers with her eyes up at Seifer.
Zell, who had also been at the building before, walked past them. He gazed longingly at the battle series issues stacked high all around him, but continued into the room ahead. Quistis gave Seifer one last icy look and released his arm. Faced with her withdrawing back, he couldn't help but grin. Her response to his come on had been exactly what he was hoping for. Jealousy.
He'd never been inside Timber Maniacs, but from the looks of it, Quistis and Zell had and they knew what they were doing. Following them into the room, he saw that Quistis was already talking to a man near the window on the far side of the room.
His eyes roved over the room, taking his surroundings in while he approached his partners and the man, who he figured was the editor. Papers were scattered everywhere, unfinished styrofoam cups of coffee littered the desks here and there. The smell of cigars hung heavily in the air. Another man, dressed in a green flannel jacket, turned and grabbed the sleeve of Seifer's trench coat as he tried to walk by.
"Did you say I look like an artist?" he demanded eagerly. "As a matter of fact, I am..."
"Get the hell off me," Seifer snarled as he shrugged the man off his sleeve and stalked away. "Lunatic..." he muttered.
Quistis had noticed their exchange. He studied her face, expecting to see a mocking look written there. Instead, she wore a pleading one. She inclined her head towards the talking editor, eyes clearly shouting 'Save me! Please!'
Seifer wondered about her behavior, but as he got close enough to hear the conversation, he got his answer. The man was going on about how in his day, he didn't have anybody to decode messages. No sir, in *his* day, they had to stay awake far into the wee hours of the night if they wanted to understand something by the next morning. Kids nowadays were just so darn lazy, he mused. Why, if he had ever slept as much as teenagers did today, his mother would just turn over in her grave...
Zell stood in the corner, shadowboxing. For once, Seifer couldn't blame him. He tilted his head back with an annoyed grunt, and stared at the ceiling fan for a few long moments, letting the breeze it created cool his face.
Finally, he fixed his gaze on Quistis. She, as usual, had her arms crossed. She was halfway turned from the editor, eyes focused on the floor. Once in a while, she would give a nod, as if to convince the man that she was listening.
He frowned as the thought of her led to memories of the day before, their kiss on the train. He didn't regret what happened, but wondered how it had come about. Why had he suddenly felt compelled to kiss her? Why had she kissed him back?
The first one really wasn't overly difficult to figure out. Quistis was an attractive woman. And the way she had looked so sad, downcast eyes and pouting lips, well it reminded him of his relationship with Rinoa. Rinoa had always looked that way after a fight with her father, turning to him for support. Seifer had never been very good with words, and the only way he knew of to comfort his girlfriend was to kiss her pain away. It always worked, maybe he thought it would be the same with Quistis.
But it was different, because him and Rinoa had been in a relationship, he and Quistis were not. And he had never felt the urge to cheer her up before. In fact, before this mission, she could be bawling like the sun would never come up again, and he really wouldn't have given a damn. So why, all of a sudden, did he give a damn?
As for Quistis kissing him back, who the hell knew. It was obvious that she was lonely. As far as Seifer knew, she had never had a boyfriend before. Which was surprising, because her shockingly good looks weren't something that most men would turn away. Except for maybe Squall Leonhart.
How ironic that the one man she wanted was the only one who would reject her.
"Oh for Hyne's sake! Will you decode this for us or not?!" Quistis suddenly demanded fiercely, startling Seifer from his reverie.
The room fell silent. The editor stood openmouthed, sentence trailing off his lips. One of Zell's punches stopped in midair as he gaped at her. Seifer, however, was more amused than surprised.
Her left hand was resting in the crook of her hip, her right waving in an impatient gesture. Her bright, azure eyes were narrowed into angry slits, a tiny foreign crease forming between her eyebrows. Whenever Seifer annoyed her, she would quickly come up with a caustic reply. But she had never really *yelled* at him. Come to think of it, he'd never seen her do much more than scold. She never lost her temper. It was rather entertaining.
"Um, sure. I can decode this, no problem miss," the editor said meekly. "Come back tomorrow, it should be ready by then." He then turned his back on them, their signal to leave.
Quistis smirked in satisfaction. It was another never-before-seen thing for Seifer, and an eerily seductive one at that. He cleared his throat, bringing her gaze to him.
She shrugged and smiled guiltily.
"Let's go guys," she gestured to the door.
The receptionist had called out a farewell to Seifer as they left, but he barely noticed. Quistis had an unusual bounce of confidence in her stride, which intrigued him much more than a flighty receptionist did.
"You're my hero, Quistis!" Zell grinned. "Man, you really shut that moron up!"
"Even I can only take so much. And hey, it worked."
"I wonder what's in that magazine," Zell mused, with great interest.
"Don't get too excited, Chicken-wuss. You might have an accident," Seifer smirked.
"Shove it, Seifer," Zell rolled his eyes. He was finally beginning to learn how to brush off Seifer's taunts. He'd need a new person to irritate soon enough. "Hey Quistis, can I use your cell phone?"
"It's only for emergencies," Quistis frowned. "What do you need it for?"
"Well, I kinda want to call Abby, I haven't talked to her in a really long time..." Zell referred to his library girl, a healthy flush crawling up his neck. Quistis smiled with understanding, and removed the carefully clipped cell phone from her belt.
"Thanks Quis! Um, I kind of want some privacy, so I'll catch up with you guys later at the hotel, okay?" Zell didn't bother to wait for an answer, and happily bounded off.
"That's your idea of an emergency?" Seifer rolled his eyes.
"He misses his girlfriend," she shrugged. "I'd do the same if it were you."
"Oh, would you?"
"Yeah..." she said, staring at something over Seifer's shoulder. "Excuse me, Seifer. Timber holds memories for me, there's something I want to check out."
"Memories such as?" Seifer prodded.
"You're smart enough to figure it out," she said seriously. "And if you aren't, you can come with me. The same memory, different points of view."
Seifer matched her pace as she walked towards the pub. What were these, memories of getting drunk? He had no idea about what this 'same memory' was. The hell was she talking about?
He was starting to think that he wasn't smart enough to figure it out, when all of a sudden they walked through the back alley and it hit him full force. They had made the same trip together, oh, it seemed an eternity ago.
She was talking about the day that started her life, and ended his.
Quistis walked in silence, eyes glued to the approaching TV Station. It seemed that one eye was viewing the present, the other the past. She watched herself and Seifer run side by side, encountering security guards and quickly disposing of them. He was out to get Deling's ass, she was out to save Seifer's.
She remembered that day clearly, despite the GFs. After losing her position as instructor, Quistis was appointed baby-sitter to Seifer Almasy in the disciplinary room. He'd asked her where Puberty Boy and Chicken-wuss were off to, and she could still see the mixture of anger and excitement on his face as he ran out to play hero, and earned himself traitor.
She followed, knowing that he would get himself into trouble. The Garden already had a poor opinion of her abilities, and if they found out that she wasn't even capable of baby-sitting Seifer for a couple of hours, she had no hope of ever being an instructor again.
Both of them stopped as they reached the entrance of the TV station. She turned to him, speaking softly.
"Are you ready to face this yet?"
Seifer turned, looking her up and down once before shrugging.
"Can't hide from my past forever."
"That's true," she agreed. "Seifer, if you ever want to talk about it, if you ever want to talk about anything...I'll listen," she offered suddenly.
"...Thanks," he sighed. "I'm ready."
Quistis nodded gravely. They both walked inside, ready to face the memory that neither were particularly fond of.