AN: Yet another randomly begun fic. SxS - now with plot! Squall's on the verge of china syndrome (meltdown – nuclear style), and the only person who knows and can do anything about it is (you guessed it) Seifer :)
Disclaimers: ff8 characters are © Squaresoft
Warnings: Angst and language, SxS
---SQUALL---
"Because you were paid to come." I wince and take a step back, physically reeling from the verbal blow. My mind races, and I feel on the verge of tears. Seifer knows me better than that, he knows I couldn't care less if we were paid or not, so why? Why hit me with something that really hurts? He's never done it before, so why now? Even when we fought in the training centre, even all the times when I've called him the vilest names I know – and I know some pretty vile names – he's never really tried to hurt me. As he's just shown, had he wanted to, he could've. So if not then, why start now?
Anger starts to boil in me, begins to destroy my control. The last time I fell into a blind rage I killed four T-Rexaurs without noticing, only sheer exhaustion stopping me. I don't want to kill Seifer, however much he hurts me. Physically or mentally. Didn't I prove that enough during Ultemecia?
"What do you want Seifer?" I grate out. Shit. I suddenly realise, seeing the surprised expression that flits across his face. I called him Seifer instead of Almasy. Shows how deep that comment went. Too much deeper and I'll be confessing things I really don't want to. I stare at him, a challenge, noticing that he's suddenly more uncertain. Guess my slip has really thrown him. Then his expression hardens. Whatever he's gonna do, he's gonna do, no matter what I might say.
Half my mind is screaming out in hope that this might be Seifer's way of leading up to 'I want to confess I love you'. Sappy I know, but everyone can dream. The other half of my mind shouts the sappy half down, pointing out with sarcastic logic that it's unlikely to happen under any circumstances, never mind the current circumstances. I wait for his reply.
I really should've brought some food, although I doubt I could've eaten it. My mouth is dry, and my lips are cracked with the heat. I suppose I could drink a potion, if I had any with me.
"Why are you commander at Balamb, Leonhart?" I shrug. Confused by the sudden change of topic. Cid made me commander, and everyone seemed to want me to stay there. At least, no one has openly said I should step down. I'd be gone like a shot if they did. One complaint is all the excuse I need. I never asked for the rank, I never wanted the responsibility. It was just Cid, convinced that the only reason we won over Ultemecia was because I was given complete control. I don't care that we were fighting Seifer, that I was the one who knew him best – knew his tactics and how to counter them. That war nearly finished me, emotionally at least.
"You sit there playing games with the lives of every SeeD you send on a mission, every cadet that takes the SeeD exam..." I guess it's true. Still. He won't hear any argument out of me. I toy with the idea of persuading Seifer to go talk Cid out of me being commander, but I suspect Seifer's opinions would only make them more determined to keep me pinned down.
---SEIFER---
There's no response to my comment. Guess I'd better take a different approach. There were always two things that never failed to outright piss Squall off. One was Ellone, and the other is his ring. I dunno why he's so damn protective about that ring. I mean, it's not like it's unique any more. There are scores of copies on the market now, each proclaimed as being just like the original. Only Squall seems to find that funny, so I guess there's something about the original that they can't copy.
"Guess we gotta do this the hard way." I mutter. He frowns suspiciously, but the silence spell I cast catches him off guard. I noticed when I met him that he had no potions or anything, and I've never known him carry healing GFs. I curse him as an afterthought. He's gonna be really pissed when I'm through, so maybe I shouldn't let him use his limit. The expression on his face as he realises what I've done is priceless. I snort. All the Gardens teach that curse is a spell that only Vysages and sorceresses can cast. It just takes a lot of learning and a bit of practise.
So, Ellone or the ring. I guess it has to be Sis, although I'd prefer to taunt him about the ring. I'm treading on dangerous ground with Ellone, what with her having left again. I wonder if she could see what was happening to Squall? Or was it just me and Edea? I have to admit, this was all Edea's idea. I wanted to find a way that didn't involve fighting, but she convinced me there wasn't one. So here I am, about to fight Squall for his own life.
"Shame you scared Ellone away again." I watch his eyes narrow in anger. She finally managed to convince him that it wasn't his fault that she left, and now he's almost religious about the fact. He flashes his middle finger at me, glaring contemptuously. I shrug.
"Have you and Laguna finished fucking up to each other? 17 years – guess that's a lot of blowjobs you owe him Squall." I suppress the urge to drink a remedy against the venom in his glare. Mark up a third Squall-irritant – Laguna. Course, if my father turned up out of the blue, I'd be pretty pissed too.
He makes an obscene gesture with both hands, one that needs no translating. The ring flashes through my gaze, and I play my trump card.
"I should've melted that ring down while I had the chance." He appears not to have given the ring a thought, but now he glances at it, then smirks evilly at me. His eyes close, almost as if meditating on a summoning, only, he can't be summoning right? He's silenced. Or can he? Slowly everything fades from my view. I swallow nervously. I'm not ignorant. I know exactly what he called that ring...
AN: *giggles* this isn't turning out to be quite as angsty as I thought, *sighs* still, Seifer's just been caught completely off-guard *grins*