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Chapter Three - Hotels Need Funding!

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The next morning, Selphie arose to a beautiful sunrise, which spread hues of gold and lavender across the gradually lightening sky. Instantly she turned her back to the window and buried herself further under her blanket. Knowing that the only thing to look forward to in the morning was Seifer was not very good for the health. In fact, she could swear she was ill.

But, the show had to go on. She needed that level rank almost as much as she needed air, cuddly creatures and music. In the time span of an hour, she was ready in her SeeD uniform and her hair was perfectly flipped. Her bag was packed and there really wasn't any reason for her to linger in her room.

" Move your feet," she hissed to herself. It was as if her feet were crazy glued to the floor. Perhaps a possible mental breakdown would free her from the mission...maybe Cid would give her another chance to bring her level up! But...no. That wasn't possible, given that this job was particularly assigned to her. At least Seifer would be forced to listen to her for once. She was positive that he wouldn't try anything dangerous under her orders, but then again, she had never been in charge of him before. The only mission she had ever been on with him was in Dollet where he was their captain, and that didn't go very well.

Convincing herself that this mission would be different than the last, (and that Seifer wouldn't do anything stupid) she managed to make it to the front gate, where Seifer was waiting. He was leaning on a yellow car and was wearing the SeeD uniform, which did look very nice on him. He seemed more professional and mature than Squall, Zell and Irvine when they were in their uniforms, probably because of his clean cut hair and broad shoulders.

Selphie forced herself to put on a cheery face and she skipped to where Seifer was.

" Are you ready to go?" she asked, putting a bit of bounce into her voice. Seifer nodded and was about to slip into the drivers seat when Selphie stepped in front of him.

" Oh no, you don't actually think that I'm going to let you drive, do you?"

" If you know what's good for you, you will," Seifer replied back, but not as cattily as Selphie had.

" Right."

Selphie pushed Seifer in the chest with one hand and took her seat behind the wheel. Seifer seemed like he would rip off the roof of the car, but then he simply kicked one of the front tires and walked to the passenger seat.

" Are you nervous?" Selphie asked Seifer as she drove to Balamb city. Seifer snorted, much to Selphie's disgust.

" Should I be?"

" This is your first mission," Selphie pointed out.

" If anyone should be worried, it's you."

Although Selphie didn't show it, what Seifer had said made her deeply unnerved. Of course Seifer would say something like that, his ego being bigger then Zell's hair but the way that he had said it was ...well, very creepy. Luckily, she didn't have any more time to ponder over it; they had reached Balamb city.

They walked to the train station and Selphie was delighted to see that the train was already there, which meant that she didn't need to make any small talk with Seifer. But even on the train ride, she refused to say a word to him. Instead, she stood by the window and sung softly a song that she had learned from Trabia Garden. She missed her old home deeply, and sometimes wished that she had never even come to Balamb. No one ever did take her seriously and they all had more of a forward way of thinking in comparison to her backwards.

" Will you stop singing? You're embarrassing yourself!"

Selphie forced herself to focus on the passing landscapes and to block out Seifer's voice. She knew if she punched him in the face she would become demoted. But oh, it would feel so good.

" What's the smile for?" Seifer asked, coming entirely out of the cabin doorway he was leaning in. He came up behind Selphie and wrapped his arms around her waist then squeezed her tightly. She was going to be sick.

" You're disgusting, you know that?" she said, wrenching his hands off of her. If he had gone any higher, he would have found himself thrown out of the window of the train.

" And you don't know what you want!" Seifer countered, his grin gone.

" Seifer, even if you were the last man on earth I wouldn't go near you!" Selphie shouted, feeling disgusted that Seifer even thought that she was attracted to him.

" Hmm, funny, I never heard you protest in the elevator, or in the closet."

" I was on drugs," Selphie lied. " Anyway, remember what I told you yesterday. I'm in charge and that means you listen to me. My first order is for you to go back into your cabin and stay the hell away from me."

" Damn prude..."

" What did you say?"

Selphie could feel her naturally happy self slowly diminishing in the face of Seifer Almasy. Now she understood why Quistis and Squall were always so bitter. She had the sudden urge to grab her nunchaku and knock Seifer unconscious with them, but her thought was cut short when the lights in the train went out and it jolted to a halt.

" We're having some technical difficulties. If you would just take the nearest exit, you will see that we are walking distance to Deling City. A hotel will be available to stay in until the train is operational again. Thank you."

The passengers on the train were in the same foul mood that Selphie and Seifer were in as they picked up their luggage and trudged toward Deling City. Along the way, the SeeDs fought off creatures to protect the passengers but got their bags stolen by a Thrustaevis in the process. The only thing they were left with was Selphie's backpack, which only held 2000 Gil, toothpaste, a night dress, her cell phone (thank Hyne!) and some socks.

To top off their luck, when they reached Deling City, the hotel was left with only one room that contained only one bed.

" It's a honey moon suite, actually," said the clerk. " Take it or leave it!"

The thought of sleeping outside on the streets seemed more pleasing than sharing a room with Seifer, but Selphie knew that that act would be deeply frowned upon. She could almost imagine General Caraway coming across her camped on the middle of the street appearing as some sort of bag lady.

" We'll take it," Selphie said, thrusting 1000 Gil into the lady's hand in exchange for the key.

The room was small and cozy, probably since the bed took up nearly half of it. At the sight of the flaming red sheets, Selphie could feel her face begin to match with the bed's colour.

" Nice room," Seifer said, after taking a quick look around. " Anyway, I'm going to sleep." He crashed onto the bed, bouncing a bit, then closed his eyes. At first Selphie wondered what kind of person slept with their shoes on, but then she realized what was happening.

" Oh no," said Selphie, running up to Seifer and beginning to pull on his legs. " No, no, no, no, no, no!"

" Hey!"

With a couple more jerks, Selphie managed to pull Seifer completely off of the bed and now he was sprawled on the floor.

" What the hell is the matter with you?" Seifer asked, his face flushed in anger. He stood up and grabbed onto Selphie's shoulders. She shook him off and began to fix the sheets on the bed.

" You don't actually believe that I'm going to share a bed with you?" she asked in pure disbelief.

" Then where am I going to sleep?" Seifer yelled. " On the floor?"

" Okay, but you asked for it!"

As she left to the bathroom to change, she expected Seifer to protest or yell or do something. But instead he was silent and when she came out, he was lying on the floor wrapped in a sheet. She was beginning to feel bad about forcing Seifer to sleep on the floor, but it just wasn't right for a girl and guy to sleep in the same bed!

She got up, hoping not to make the bed creak, and leaned over the foot of the bed to where Seifer was sleeping. He was sprawled in a very weird position, but in sleep, he looked really...cute. She almost wanted to cuddle him but then she remembered that he wasn't that adorable all the time. When she thought about it, Seifer wasn't that bad of a guy. He probably gave off the 'bad boy' reputation because it made people fear him...and respect him in a way. That also meant that he wouldn't be hurt.

Selphie smiled. Well, with a bit of love and care, Seifer Almasy could be changed into someone completely different, she thought, someone who wouldn't have to fear anyone and be a top class SeeD. After all, hadn't Rinoa done the same for Squall?

With that goal in mind, Selphie managed to fall into a satisfying sleep.

***

The gentle rustle of leaves on the few trees that were in Deling City was the first sound Selphie heard when she awoke. The light breeze that entered the room through the window on her left was so soothing that she refused to awaken. Besides, the sky was still dark. She turned around to snuggle further underneath the oh so comfortable sheets when she felt something (or someone) warm. In fact, she could feel his or her heartbeat.

She opened her eyes immediately and came face to face with a bare back. Shocked, she scrambled up and leaned over whoever was in her bed. It was Seifer. For a moment she thought of pushing him off onto the floor again, but he looked so peaceful. Under further examination, she noticed his long eyelashes (always wasted on men) and that he actually had very light freckles on the bridge of his nose. His hair fell in short wisps on his forehead and his lips were the cutest pink. Call it insanity, but Selphie had the most absurd urge to kiss his nose. She bent her knees and leaned even further over onto Seifer, then she planted a small peck on his nose.

And he woke up.

She instantly began to scream, still leaning over him, and in response, Seifer began to scream as well. After about five minutes Seifer stopped screaming and placed his hand over Selphie's mouth. She nodded her head, as if to say that she wouldn't scream and he lifted his hand.

" Sorry," Selphie muttered, pulling the sheets over to cover her legs. " Hope we didn't wake anyone."

" Yeah." Seifer dropped back down onto the bed to go back to sleep but Selphie pulled the sheet entirely off of him, angrily.

" Excuse me?"

" What?!"

This time she stretched out her legs and kicked Seifer off of the bed. He crashed into the nightstand and Selphie couldn't help the smile that had come onto her face.

" What was that for?" he shouted, getting up from the floor. " Is it just me, or do you like hurting people?"

" It's you," Selphie responded. " Anyway, didn't I tell you that I didn't want you sleeping next to me?"

" The floor was fucking cold!" Seifer yelled. Selphie wanted to tell him that was because he was only wearing his SeeD pants but she kept quiet after taking a quick look at herself in her short nightgown. " Besides, what the hell were you doing kissing my nose?"

Selphie blushed and covered her face. Oh god, oh god, oh god! She had hoped that he would think it was a dream or perhaps forget about it. Oxygen, she needed oxygen!

" Never mind," Seifer muttered, gingerly touching his nose. Then he walked back to the spot on the floor where he had been sleeping before and lay down.

" No, wait."

He looked up, his eyebrows raised high in question. Selphie bit her lower lip and gave him an embarrassed smile.

" Uhm...you can sleep here. No more kissing, I promise."

Seifer grinned and settled onto the bed next to her.

" You're not worried that something might happen?"

" No...I was thinking of sleeping in the tub, actually." She grabbed her pillow and a sheet and was about to get up when Seifer grabbed her arm.

" I heard that centipedes sometimes crawl out of the drain in bath tubs."

Selphie hated centipedes and by the look on Seifer's face, she could tell that he still remembered that from when they were children. She could also tell from his eyes that he wouldn't do anything to harm her. They had grown up together.

She put down her pillow and lay back down on the bed. Sleep came quickly to her but before she was fully asleep, she heard Seifer say quietly, " By the way, you have great legs."

***

(a/n: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed! *hugz her reviewers* And if you have any suggestions, like the great ones I got for the first chapter, please just slide it into your review! ^_^ . Many more interesting events to come!)