Disclaimers: I don't own them.
A/U, SquallxSeifer. YAOI! SHOUNEN-AI!
CHAPTER 10: I better freakin' finish this soon.
"Hey."
I squirmed. He knew by then that my neck was very ticklish, the bastard. "What?" I croaked, cracking one eye open.
Silhouetted against the orange sunset, I could barely make out his features, but that smug grin that said I wore you out good, didn't I? was blinding.
"Wake up lazybum, unless you want a whole gaggle of worried Garden staff come bearing down on this humble little abode."
I yawned in reply and snuggled closer.
He just won't stop being amused. "Fine, be that way."
This is nice, I thought. The sex was great, but this is nice. Maybe it was because he was lazily petting my hair, or because we were both naked and sticky and sleepy and in no hurry to be anywhere. Whatever the reasons, it was nice.
My mind was drifting lazily, lulled by the even stroking of Seifer's hand. It was a novel position; I had never been the one who was held and petted, Terence being too frail for me to be anyone else but his incapable protector. I felt safe, and loved.
Is this how family feels like?
"Seifer?"
"Hmm?"
I exhaled and continued, not quite knowing what I would be saying. "Will he – is he busy? I mean, I – would Laguna meet me?"
Seifer was silent, and pulled me up so I was facing him, even though half-draped on his chest. "Yes, yes he would," he said in utter seriousness. "He would love you."
"You're just giving lip service," I muttered.
"No." He sighed in frustration. "Listen. Squall, just listen, ok? Laguna loved me, and he loved the rest of us, but in all the years since the War I know he misses his true family. With Raine – your mother – there's a tombstone for him to visit, to pay his respects, a monument to the one woman he loved in his life. But you…. We filled the empty spaces, and I think he's resigned to never knowing what happened to his son, but do you want to take this away from him? You will not disappoint him. You could never disappoint him."
I sighed. "Fine. When can I meet him?"
I endeavoured to be a lot more agreeable from then on, judging from his completely enthusiastic kiss.
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It was not for another three days that Seifer managed to arrange a dinner with Laguna, who was away visiting his old hometown (doesn't that make it my own hometown too, I wondered). To say that I' was nervously anticipating the meeting would be like stating extracting your tooth can be a tedious and painful process when the only thing you have is only a pair of pliers. Which means yes, I was nervously anticipating the entire dreaded affair.
But in the meantime… I bless the human ability to concentrate fully on the trivial and the short-term. The Garden kept me satisfactorily occupied, and its staff took no urging to remind me that I was loved and accepted. It was a lovely feeling, as I worked to get to know these people who were my family many years past. Edea couldn't help coddling me, Cid kept thumping me in the back and remarked at how much I've grown up (the same goes for Q and Ifrit, though there were more tissues for Q), Shiva kept smirking, Selphie cannot stop grinning, Quistis couldn't quite stop her face from breaking into smiles periodically, Zell's mission it seemed was to feed me EVEN MORE hot dogs and bad jokes and Seifer couldn't quite keep his hands off me (not that I was complaining). And the regular patrons were beginning to comment that Irvine's cooking had kicked a notch higher the past few days.
In short, it was precisely the raucous kind of reunion I had imagined it would be. It was exhausting. I was beginning to wonder if Edea got her hair colour from a bottle, because there was no way a person could survive a hyperactive childhood (times six! reminds my brain) unscathed, without grey hairs or battle scars of some sort.
To top it all off, it seemed the fallout of the Discovery of My Actual Identity (caps intended) had been very interesting. Shiva was now dating Ifrit. I don't remember shrieking, but my eyebrows pretty much disappeared off my hairline, I could imagine. Excess emotions and exultations had been pinpointed as major factors.
"Eh," she just said, shrugging. "It was bound to happen someday."
But beneath her nonchalance, Shiva was quietly freaking out. If she was not, explain to me that one stress-filled day (one more day to Dinner With Laguna!) where she tried shoe after shoe, outfit after outfit while I refrain from pointing out that if the man could take severe mental and verbal abuse for all these years, she could show up in sackcloth and ashes and still that date would be a smash.
Then again, you could never underestimate the importance of a well-placed cleavage.
What about myself? Well, I was happy to note that having a well-off, handsome boyfriend is a Real Good Thing. I still remembered Irvine's warnings, and even though I wondered if it still applied, I decided to not worry too much about it, and enjoy all the attention he was giving me.
And I finally got around to replying to an entire week's worth of backlogged messages from Rinoa. I debated telling her about Seifer, because I couldn't quite decide which was worse: being reamed for not telling her sooner, or being reamed for not writing mails for so long and when I did, it was with news like this.
I decided against it. She was coming to visit in a week anyway, as the new semester approaches. I'd rather endure light physical assault than a letter filled with screaming capitals and exclamation marks. That kind of letters gives me headaches, and she knew it too.
Yes, I was totally counting on her pathological need to make a good first impression in front of my boyfriend to get off lightly. I hoped.
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Three hours before the Dinner, I was a nervous wreck previously known as Squall.
"Relax," Seifer tried valiantly to calm me down. Not that he was succeeding, because by then I was distantly noting that I may need to buy a new carpet soon, if I didn't stop pacing.
"I can't," I snapped. "What if he doesn't like me? What if he was just being polite the last time? What if something happens and he just knows that I couldn't possibly the boy he was looking for? What if – mmpph…"
Seifer. Kissing. Very. Good.
He whispered against my lips, "I'd offer a quickie if I thought it'll calm you down."
"No, no," I shook my head vehemently. "No sex before meeting with prospective genetic parents." Not with my blush reflex anyway.
He looked at me in the eye. "Then calm down."
Impulsively, I threw my arms around him, and hugged. Hard. "I'm so scared."
"Shh, everything will be fine."
"Can we just, I don't know, sit or something?" I asked in a small voice.
He nodded agreeably. He switched on the tv and without preamble, carried me to the couch. We just sat in silence for most of the two hours, with me lightly weaving in and out of sleep as some talk show host droned on about self-confidence (very subtle Seifer).
Five minutes before the scheduled time for the dinner, we both stood outside of the Garden, with me gripping onto Seifer's hand for dear life. I thought it was gracious of Laguna to suggest the Garden; it wasn't exactly neutral, I was comfortable and familiar with it. Already he gave me favourable odds. If I had just stopped to think about it, this would have been the most obvious clue that Laguna Loire intends to take me, Squall Leonhart, as his son very seriously.
Of course, at that point I suddenly developed a worry that my dark blue dinner jacket was too subdued.
"I mean, what if it's too boring?" I whispered fiercely as we walked upstairs. "He could be expecting a more livelier son or something –"
And all Seifer did was pinch my ass.
I semi-squealed, looked at the man behind me accusingly, and turned around to face… my father.
"Hullo?" I began awkwardly.
"Squall?" Awkwardness may be a family trait.
I nodded uncertainly.
The next thing I knew, he was crushing all the air out of me. "I've missed you so much," he said feelingly as I reciprocated the hug. "You have your mother's eyes," he declared after he released me from that enormous bear hug. I flushed in pleasure.
"Come, we shouldn't be standing like idiots here. Let's have dinner, shall we?" he announced, as he excitedly led me to my seat. Ellone was already standing by her seat, her eyes bright and shining.
Throughout it all, Seifer was keeping my hand securely in his. His eyes twinkled, as if saying I did say it'll be fine, didn't I?
Oh shut up, I thought happily as I began reacquainting myself with a sister and father I never knew.
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END
Notes: I will persevere~! And finish this!