(a/n: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Geeta, Vick330 and tigerofthewind. I love it when people leave their responses for every chapter! ^_^)

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Chapter Four: Delusions. Painful, Consuming Delusions.

***

The train had been fixed the next morning and by noon, Selphie and Seifer were in Timber. Once off of the train, Selphie smacked Seifer with her backpack over the head.

" That's for what you said about my legs last night!" she said angrily, although Seifer could see that obviously she had liked what he had said. He shook his head when she turned around to walk out of the station and wondered about how women always thought that they were right when in reality, they were always wrong. And insane, definitely insane. They wanted a compliment, he gave them one and as a reward, he gets whacked by a bag containing a very hard nunchaku.

He followed Selphie silently out of the station and to the main entrance where the Wendigos were supposed to be. The assignment was pathetic and certainly not what he had been hoping for in regarding his first mission as SeeD. As much as he was grateful towards Cid, he also thought the guy was getting too old for his job.

Shouldn't a monster control group take care of these kind of things, he thought as they rounded a corner and met with an old woman running from three Wendigos. He almost laughed if it wasn't for Selphie, who had already cast Triple onto herself.

" Seifer, you give 'em a wham with Diablos. I'll just follow up with some Flare magic."

In about three hours, all of the Wendigos had either been shipped to the plateaus to where they resided or had been shamelessly killed. Seifer was looking forward to going home until Selphie burst his bubble by saying that they had to stay in Timber for another three days.

" What the hell?" Seifer shouted and he swiped his gunblade across the air. " We're finished our mission."

" There's always the possibility that more Wendigo may venture back here," Selphie said casually, shrugging her shoulders. Seifer couldn't help but to think about how cute she looked like when she lied. " We have to keep a look out."

She suggested for Seifer to look around a bit, perhaps visit the Timber Maniacs. He hated the Timber Maniacs but obliged, becoming slightly bored by the way Selphie was looking over every item in the Pet Shop for Rinoa's cursed dog, Angelo.

After meeting some hysterical man obviously on the bridge of a mid life crisis, Seifer decided to visit the bar and if he wasn't drunk afterwards, then he would go to the outskirts of Timber and fight some Geezards. Anything was more interesting than this town. He entered the bar and was surprised to see Selphie sitting at one of the stools with an untouched Bloody Mary in front of her. She was deep in conversation with the bartender, who was clearly nervous by the way he kept pulling at his collar. Selphie, on the other hand, appeared calm but she didn't crack a smile as she talked. Seifer hadn't known the tiny messenger girl for long, but he did know that something was going on when she didn't smile.

He took a seat at the tiny specialty bar behind her and watched her carefully from his corner. After a few more minutes, she left the man alone and walked near the back door where she pulled out a cellular phone from her backpack. At first her expression was cheery, and Seifer assumed she was talking to some friend, but then her eyes went wide and she staggered slightly. She said a few more words, then hung up and walked out of the back door.

She was defiantly up to something, and Seifer intended to find out what immediately. He sprang up from his seat and ran after her out of the bar. He hadn't noticed that she had stopped to pick up something and ended up smacking straight into her.

" Oww.." Selphie moaned, clutching her leg. " What's wrong with you?"

Seifer grabbed her arm and pulled her up roughly, and she seemed even more annoyed with him for doing that.

" I should be asking the same thing," Seifer drawled. " Who were you talking to, and what's up with us having to stay in Timber?"

Selphie turned her back to him and waved her hand dismissively.

" That was just Cid. He was informing me that we are to attend a gala for President Laguna Loire."

" What? That has nothing to do with our mission!" He could see Selphie tensing up and she began to walk away from him.

" Well, never mind that. Just be in the Timber Hotel by 1700 hours in your uniform."

Seifer decided against following her. He went after no one, and besides, he had his own methods of finding out what he wanted. Selphie was acting weird, for one thing. She kept freaking out about every little event that happened and not once had she giggled like her annoying self. There was a possibility that she had matured, but that was a bit far fetched.

Deciding to focus his thoughts on something else, Seifer decided to pass the remaining two hours by fighting monsters outside of Timber. Once he got going, nothing would be able to stop him until there was nothing left.

***

The party almost reminded him of the SeeD coronation ball. Women were dressed in their finest silk and draped with their most expensive jewellery, while the men all wore suits. Seifer felt otu of place in his uniform, but he had always liked to stick out. Only once in Garden he had worn his school uniform; by not coming to class in it, he felt proud and rebellious.

Seifer glanced around for Selphie; it was difficult considering how short she was. He slowly walked around the room and was startled when someone bumped him in the back.

" Hey, have you seen Laguna yet?" Selphie asked, nervously swaying side to side. " I don't even know if my dress looks nice enough for him..."

Seifer was about to comment on how Laguna was the father of Selphie's dear friend, Squall, but his mind quickly became distracted by the dress that she was in. The black dress hung just a few inches above her knees and was sleeveless; the top half was halter like with a low neck line as well.

" No uniform?" Seifer asked, silently adding, ' and where did you find that dress?'

" Seifer, I can't stand out!"

" And I can?"

Selphie scowled at him but her anger dissolved to glee as she grabbed his arm and dragged him over to where Laguna was standing, surrounded by important persons from the Galbadian Headmaster Martene (he had been re-hired) to the President of Galbadia. But a few metres away from them, Selphie stopped and pushed Seifer against a column.

" Messenger Girl, I'm flattered but this really isn't the place..." Seifer grinned and Selphie gave a short laugh before kicking him in the shin with her pointy black heel.

" Listen, if anyone asks, we're going out, okay?" she whispered, glancing back and forth in a paranoid fashion. " Geez, uhm...how about you go downstairs and change into a tux?" She grabbed Seifer's hand and slipped him what felt like a damn lot of Gil.

" What's going on?" he asked, then lowered his voice. "Where did you get this money from?"

" Oh, like you care!" Selphie hissed, her eyes unsteady. " Just go, please!"

Seifer took in a sharp breath and nodded his head. Maybe if he acted like he cared, Selphie would let him in on this secret she had. For some reason, he thought that maybe she was planning to seduce President Loire. Well, he had read on her live diary that she had some sort of sick interest in him. But if it wasn't that, then it had to be SeeD related. Maybe another test. Seifer gritted his teeth, he hated it when people had the upper hand on him. But he needed his SeeD rank to go up. He had to show that he was worthy -no, more than worthy- of SeeD and Garden. A match for Squall Leonhart.

Without realizing it, Seifer had reached the tuxedo rental shop. The basement of the hotel was abandoned without a single soul, if not including the man at the desk and himself. It was a plain little store without any mannequins in the cracked window and about three tuxes behind the sales clerk. He was sleeping when Seifer approached him, so Seifer did the only decent thing to awaken him: he punched the desk. The impact was so hard that the windows rattled and Seifer wondered if maybe he should have taken the close combat classes that Zell specialized in.

" Nngh...uh...ya?" the man asked, blinking his sleepy eyes.

" Need a tux."

" Size?"

" Just get whatever will fit," Seifer mumbled.

" Well...how tall are you?" The man squinted when looking up at Seifer.

" 6'2'', can you hurry it a little?"

The man ran his hand through his hair and gave a large yawn before trudging to the back of the shop. He disappeared behind some shelves for a few minutes before re-emerging with a black suit.

" 3000 Gil," he said flatly, draping the suit across the front desk. Seifer fumbled with the money Selphie had given him and was shocked to count over 500 000 Gil. Where did she get this? he thought as he handed a small portion of his money to the man. Selphie certainly didn't seem like the type to steal from someone.

" I'm assuming that you need to wear that right now," said the man. He pointed to his left where a door was. " You can change in there."

After trying on the suit, Seifer was surprised to find it a perfect fit. Surprising, considering how normally a tailor would need to measure every limb on the body to make the flawless suit. He remembered how he hated it in Garden when they needed to get measured for uniforms every year -another reason why he refused to wear it.

He took the elevator up where Selphie was waiting for him.

" Lookin' good," Selphie said, running her eyes over his body. She stepped directly up to him and tugged onto the white collar, then ran her hand over the black jacket. " No tie?"

" I hate ties," Seifer said. " Now, will you tell me why we're here?"

" Not yet!" Selphie exclaimed. She latched herself onto Seifer again and began to look around crazily once more.

" Laguna's over there," Seifer said dryly, pointing behind Selphie. Selphie seemed delighted and she steered Seifer to where the former journalist was standing, alone with a martini in hand.

" Sir Laguna!" Selphie cried, hugging him.

" Are you suppose to do that?" Seifer hissed, clamping his hand down on Selphie's shoulder. She smacked him away and began to engage herself in a very boring conversation with Laguna, mainly about Squall, Garden and Laguna's travels. Laguna seemed very interested in her, and Seifer hoped that it was just in a fatherly way. Although it would be amusing to see Squall's reaction when he hears that Selphie is going out with his father.

Shaking his head, Seifer needed a drink. The party they were at was not his type, with the old people talking, and talking, and talking. There wasn't even music, not that he liked the kind they would play, such as the infamous Balamb Waltz. Seifer began to wander around and was drawn to the mini-bar in the far back to the room. He became lost in his favourite Tri-Face Tonic, and then his thoughts were composed only of Selphie.

She was still with that idiot, giggling and twirling her hair around her little finger. She looked so cute, though. Seifer was a bit surprised with himself. Never had he taken interest in someone so hyper, joyous yet at the same time, fiery. Selphie was a bit of an enigma. She certainly took SeeD seriously but she came off as klutzy and a bit of a ditz. He had to admit that he would never have noticed Selphie if it wasn't for that day in the elevator. She had been driving her crazy with her ridiculous antics, but when it all became too much, he had kissed her. And Hyne, never had he wanted a woman so bad after that.

A thought that had been lingering in Seifer's mind suddenly became dominant and his face darkened. What if he only desired Selphie because of lust? There was nothing wrong with the occasional fling but this was Selphie. She seemed so small and vulnerable...could he really go through with breaking her heart, as he had done with others?

" Wonder why she's with the President of Esthar."

Seifer turned to the man next to him, a man who was in his early twenties with light brown skin and ebony hair.

" Why do you care?" Seifer asked, narrowing his eyes. The other man shrugged.

" I saw you with her, until she became infatuated with him." He gestured to Laguna. " The man calls himself a leader..." He shook his head in disgust. " I heard that he even has a son, a SeeD. The boy acts like he doesn't even know him." The man gave a short laugh then was focused on his drink again.

At least Squall knows his father, Seifer thought bitterly. He finished off his drink and was about to order another when the man stopped him mid-sentence.

" How about I get you one -no, make that two."

Seifer turned to where the man was looking and saw Selphie walking towards him. Laguna was gone.

" She's something special," the man said, and ordered something that Seifer had not even heard about: an Anacondor's Poison.

" That's not the real thing, is it?" Seifer asked. He didn't care if he sounded like an idiot -this man was weird and there was something going on with him.

The man shook his head.

" No, it's a specialty drink. Only found in Timber."

" Oh, I wanna try it!"

Selphie took a seat next to Seifer and extended her hand to the stranger.

" I'm Selphie!"

The man took her hand but Seifer noticed her eyes go wide and she wrenched it away.

" Salman Khan," the man said. " Sorry, my grip was too hard."

Salman gave a half smile and stood up, dusting his pants.

" I must be going but ... I'll see both of you again."

Once he was out of range, Selphie groaned and smacked her head onto the counter. Seifer was silent until she began to bang her head repeatedly, obviously wanting him to enquire what was bothering her.

" Nothing," she moaned. " I just want to leave. Laguna was so boring! I nearly fell asleep listening to him bitch and moan about Esthar's current predicament. And to top it off, he never got any cramps around me! Talk about insulting!"

" Selphie, the man is old enough to be your father," Seifer said, turning away from her. "Get a grip."

The bartender set out two drinks in front of the pair and Seifer realized that they were the Anacondor's Poison. Selphie cautiously stirred the bubbling green liquid and gave Seifer a side look.

" What is this?"

Seifer lifted the glass and threw out the straw. "What you wanted to try."

He took a large sip from it and felt something like a jolt go through his body, then his head began to swirl. It was burning him and he felt like hacking but he didn't show any of it. He could see Selphie watching him curiously but when she saw nothing happening to him, she took a sip through the straw.

" Yuckie!" she exclaimed, pushing the glass away from her. " It hurts!"

Seifer smirked and took another sip before replying, " Well, that's what I expect from you."

" What is that supposed to mean?"

" You know...you're so...innocent," Seifer said, patting Selphie on the back. " Kinda hard to believe you're...18, right?"

" Oh please." Selphie glared at Seifer. " I've had guys try to get me drunk before. It's not going to work."

Seifer laughed, but he didn't find that hard to believe. Selphie was desirable, not to mention not as stupid as people took her for. He reached out and stroked her bare shoulder, still smiling.

" I'm not trying to get you drunk," Seifer said, taking interest in how she was beginning to breathe heavily, probably because of his touch. " There's something strange about this drink."

He meant the last part; he felt intoxicated, but in a different sort of way. It was as if he was looking in on himself and Selphie. He could see his hand resting on her elbow and he was wincing. He said something, but he didn't know what, and Selphie picked up the glass and examined it.

" Don't drink it," Seifer ordered, hearing himself again. He expected his voice to come off as slurred or warped but it was still its smooth bass. Selphie didn't look concerned; she most likely assumed that he was playing her for a fool again. He wanted to shout that he wasn't trying anything on her but nothing came out. Selphie took another small sip of the drink, then stared at Seifer and blinked.

" Seifer, how do you feel about me?" she inquired, her eyes now locked on his. Her eyes were the darkest green that caused him to wonder how they could change colour and if her pupils were visible.

" I don't know."

Selphie smiled and giggled before getting off of the stool and standing in front of him, her head barely reaching his nose even though he sat. Seifer could have sworn the colour in her eyes returned to normal for a moment but they remained the murky green as she stroked the side of his face.

" I wish I could tell you everything," Selphie whispered, still smiling. " But if you want to know how I feel about you, then..."

She drew away from him and walked toward the elevator. Then she was out of view. Seifer got up almost forcibly and began to drag himself after her. He wanted to stop himself, but he couldn't. He wasn't in control of his own body.

***

(a/n: Tsk, tsk, don't think dirty thoughts! That's for later on in the story! (tee hee) Love everyone's reviews! They're so nice to read and keep me writing this fic specifically, when I normally would be doing something else! I'm tryin' to break the hundred mark with this chapter. If I can, then I'll put up a Selphie and Seifer pic drawn by either me, this guy I know or my best bud. I always wanted to draw one...just wasn't motivated enough. Besides, I don't know whether to make it in anime style or portrait...how about you guys tell me what YOU want in your review, hmm? Next chapter up next week! And it's a very interesting one.)