Chapter Five: A Day of Rest
By PasifikStar
Author's Note: Wow! Lots of reviews! Cool. ^_^ Thanks for your comments and stuff! They're very much appreciated. Hehehe...sorry about not updating for a while. I've been busy and I ended up watching anime for a few days. Anyway, this kind of a dumb chapter...totally pointless with some OOCness since it is supposed to funny. If it's not, I apologize. ^_^;;
* All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters.
"Why do I have to go?" Irvine grumbled as walked behind Squall and Zell. It was about the hundredth time they walked through the lot lined with cars. He yawned tiredly and shoved his hands in his jacket pocket. "It's not MY fault you stepped on her engagement ring."
Squall scowled and shot the taller man a glare. "I told you it was an accident."
"Some accident," Zell sighed. "What are the chances that you'd actually step on it?"
"Whatever..." the young commander grumbled as he grabbed the handle of the glass door and pulled it open. They all entered. "Zell, where's the jewelry repair shop?"
"I have no idea."
Squall stopped. "What do you mean? I asked you yesterday and you said you knew exactly where it was."
"I thought you meant the mall."
"..." Irvine shook his head and Squall ran his hand down his face. "Let's just find the damn directory..."
Two Hours Later...
"I HATE you both," Squall spat out as Irvine and Zell smiled weakly. "Two hours... TWO HOURS to find a shop that was RIGHT WHERE WE ENTERED! YOU CALL YOURSELVES SeeDs!?"
He pointed his finger at the small shop that was directly to the left of them, from the entrance they had came through. "I told you that we shouldn't have stopped for hot dogs..." Irvine said behind a gritted smile.
"It was two for one today only..." Zell retorted, with an equally forced smile as their commander stormed into the jewelry shop.
"He's just frustrated," Irvine said casually. "He'll cool down as soon as the ring is fixed."
"He'll cool down as soon as he actually asks Rin to marry him and she says yes," Zell said as he looked through the window of the shop. Squall had a hardened look on his face as he stood by the front desk, waiting impatiently for someone to come help him. "I heard Seifer really chewed you out for the accident."
Irvine winced slightly and gave a little smile. "Yeah...but it wasn't really as threatening as you would think...Seifer was yelling but every time he made a hand motion, he'd let out a yelp of pain. It was kind of funny."
Zell tried to picture it and snickered. "Well, I bet that didn't stop him."
"If anything, it only pissed him off more," Irvine sighed. "Anyway, the point is that the stage is done now and all we have to do is finish up the props. We're way ahead of schedule."
"Yep, Rin and Selphie were pretty happy with that," Zell nodded. "Although Seifer still refused to go practice on the stage this week."
Irvine grinned as they sat down on the bench in front of the shop. "Hey!" a familiar voice shouted. "What are you guys doing here!?"
"Crap..." Irvine gasped as his body stiffened. "Tell me that's not..."
"Hello? Nice to see you guys, too." a sarcastic voice sighed. Irvine and Zell slowly turned around to see Rinoa standing there with Quistis and Selphie. Selphie was running forward, waving happily as Irvine and Zell stood up.
"What are you guys doing here?" Selphie asked with a warm smile as she jumped in font of them. "I thought you guys went with Squall."
"We did go with Squall-ow!" Zell glared at Irvine as the taller man elbowed him and gave him a knowing look.
"Oh..." Rinoa said, a thoughtful frown crossing her face. "So where is he?"
"Uh..." Irvine looked at Zell and Zell looked at Irvine. "At book store-"
"Buying hot dogs!" Zell said at the same time. They looked at each other again.
"What we meant to say was that he said he'd go to the book store after buying HOT DOGS," Irvine insisted. "Really."
Quistis narrowed her eyes and studied them. Zell kept looking a way and Irvine had a nervous smile on his face. "Are you two lying?"
"Quisty!" Irvine gasped, in mock shock. "How could you even suggest such a thing?"
"Because we can see Squall in the jewelry shop behind you guys." Selphie stated. She pointed over their shoulders and they turned around. Sure enough, Squall was talking to an old man behind the counter. His back was turned to them, so they couldn't see what he was holding.
"The jewelry repair shop?" Rinoa said. Her eyes went wide and softened. "Did Griever break?"
"Yes!" Irvine shouted, rather loudly.
"Okay..." Selphie said, raising an eyebrow in question. "Now the whole mall knows..."
"So what are you girls doing here?" Zell asked with a nervous chuckle.
"We have a dinner with some important women in the community tomorrow," Quistis informed them. "It's for the play, so we decided to get something new to wear."
"MORE clothes?" Zell sighed. "Can you even afford that with the pay cuts?"
"Some sacrifices have to be made!" Selphie announced.
"And technically, I'm not being paid," Rinoa added. "Also, we're here to pick up the photographs and promotional fliers."
"We got the samples in the mail last week," Selphie grinned. "But the rest are ready today! I'm so excited!"
"Oh, cool!" Zell said. "Am I in any?"
"You have a picture in the main flier." Rinoa informed him. Zell grinned from ear to ear as he looked at Irvine.
"So are we going to get to see them or what?"
"We're going to mail them out first to the people we're inviting to the benefit," Quistis said. "But afterwards, we're giving everyone whose part of the play the fliers and any pictures of themselves."
"This is so exciting!" Selphie piped. "Ah!! Let's go now!!"
Rinoa and Quistis giggled. "All right," Rinoa smiled. "Let me just go say hi to Squall first-"
"No!" Irvine and Zell cut in. Rinoa froze and raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?" Rinoa frowned as she looked over at the two males.
"Uh..." *Crap! Think, Irvine, think!* the cowboy thought to himself as he racked his brain for a cover story.
"He's crying and he doesn't want you to see!" Zell exclaimed.
Irvine nodded enthusiastically at first, but as Zell's words sunk in, he frowned and looked at the blond. "What the hell...?"
"Listen, you two are obviously intent on keeping Squall from me and I'm starting to think I don't want to know the reason," Rinoa said as she raised her hands, as if to ward them off. "Just tell him I dropped by. I'll see you guys back at the Garden."
"Yep! Bye, guys!" Selphie said as she waved and turned around.
"Have a good day!" Quistis added. The trio headed down the mall corridor with Rinoa leading the way.
Zell let out a heavy breath and wiped his forehead with his hand. "That was close..."
"He's crying?" Irvine asked, in partial disgust. "THAT'S the best you could come up with?"
"Well, I didn't see YOU coming up with anything!" Zell retorted.
The sound of a door opening behind them caught their attention and they turned. Squall was coming out of the shop, stuffing a recite into his wallet. "He said it'll take a few days and that I can pick it up Wednesday."
"Squall, you just missed her!" Zell exclaimed. The brunette looked up as he shoved his wallet into the back of his dark colored pants.
"Missed who?"
"Rinoa came by-"
"WHAT!?" Squall gasped. "Did she see me?!"
"Yes," Irvine sighed. "She was going in to say hi, but we stopped her."
"What did you tell her?" Squall asked with narrowed eyes.
Irvine looked at Zell. "Go ahead, man...tell him what you told the girls."
"I said you were crying and ashamed to be seen." Zell mumbled. Squall's eyes looked at him as if he were crazy.
"THAT was the best that you could come up with?" Squall sighed. "Hyne, Zell...I appreciate it, but now she'll be on my case about 'opening up' and making me talk about my 'emotions'."
"Yeah, I hate it when girls do that..." Irvine mumbled. "Especially when you just don't feel like talking, you know...Sometimes you just want to be alone."
Squall and Zell looked at him. Zell took on step back. "Uh...maybe we should go back now?"
"Not yet," Squall said. "I accidentally threw away Angelo's bone and she was whimpering. So Rinoa told me replace it."
"You threw away Angelo's bone?" Zell asked. "But she's such a good dog. That's kind of messed up."
"It was an accident. And she left it under MY bed," Squall told them. "Now...where's that pet store...?"
"Let's go check the directory-" Zell began.
"No!" Irvine pleaded. "You'll just lead us by the food court again!"
"I will not! And I did not LEAD us to the food court!" Zell retorted. Squall merely let out a heavy sigh and looked around, trying to decide where he should start searching first.
From the corner of his eye, he saw an all too familiar white trench coat with a red cross on the sleeves walking into a rather expensive department store. He narrowed his eyes as he saw two people following behind the tall blond man as he walked.
"You did to!" Irvine shouted.
"I did not!" Zell yelled back defensively.
"You did to!"
"I saw Seifer."
"You did to!...wait..." Irvine said as he paused. He looked over at Squall just as Zell opened his mouth to give his reply. The blond realized that the subject had changed and quickly shut his mouth.
"Seifer? HERE? At the mall? With PEOPLE?" Zell asked, confused.
"I saw him walk into the department store." Squall shrugged.
"I wonder what he's doing here...?" Irvine mumbled.
"Personally, I don't care," Squall said as he rolled his eyes. He turned his back to the two of them and began to walk down the corridor. "I have things to do."
"Hey wait!" Irvine said.
"Yeah!" Zell gasped as they ran after him. "You're our ride!"
He looked over his shoulder once more, making sure that no one else was following him. Raijin and Fujin glanced around, making sure that the area was safe to be seen in. It wasn't often that he went 'shopping'. It was definitely not often that he would be willing to be seen in department story.
"Hello, sir! How can I help you today!?" an energetic voice piped in front of him.
Seifer's head snapped ahead of him to see a young woman dressed in a lime green suit with a white shirt. She was smiling widely and had a name tag over her left breast. "Uh...yes...I'm looking for a present. For a girl."
The sales clerk's smile began to grow almost predatory as she looked at him. "Do you have anything in mind, sir?" she asked sweetly. "Do you know what she would like?"
"I was thinking perfume or something girly like that." Seifer replied hesitantly.
"Do you know if she has a particular brand or scent, sir?"
"There are brands?" Seifer mumbled. Behind him, Fujin slapped her forehead and dragged her hand down her face as she shook it. Raijin was snickering and Seifer turned and glared at them. "Shut up! You're not helping!"
"I could bring you some samples and you can decide what your girlfriend would like best." the sales clerk told him.
Seifer felt his face burning up as he leaned forward and glared at the sales clerk. "She is NOT my girlfriend!" he growled.
The clerk smiled weakly and nodded. "Uh...yes, sir! Of course!" She backed away quickly. "I'll go get you those samples!"
Seifer grumbled as he crossed his arms and stood by the counter. "Seifer, are you sure you want to do this?" Raijin asked, noticing his friend fidget.
"I'm positive," Seifer grumbled. "Stop questioning me!"
Raijin lifted up his hands to ward him off as Fujin looked around the store. She turned to her right and her eye went wide. "Quistis!" she gasped. Seifer whirled around just as three young women walked into the department store.
"Mm....I'm still debating whether or not I should buy those shoes..." Rinoa was mumbling hesitantly. "They're so cute, but did you see the price?"
"Unlike us, you can afford them," Quistis replied as they headed towards the perfume counters. "You didn't get a pay cut."
"Still..." Rinoa mumbled. "I wanted to get Squall something nice...I shouldn't be spending money on myself."
Selphie let out a heavy sigh. "Why do you have to get SQUALL something? He's a guy, it's not like he needs presents."
"I have to agree with her there." Quistis said. They walked over to the other side of the perfume counter, opposite Seifer and the others.
"Miss Trepe!" another sales clerk smiled. "Hello, what can we do for you today?"
"I just want to pick up a small bottle of Wisdom." Quistis said casually.
"Of course, Miss Trepe," the sales clerk told her. "I'll get that for you right away." As the sales clerk walked off, Selphie looked over some of the display cases. Rinoa walked over to the cologne counters to find something for Squall.
As they looked at the displays, the first sales clerk walked back to where Seifer and the others had been carrying some samples. She stopped and put the samples on the counter. "Sir?" she called out. She looked around the area, realizing it was vacant of the tall blond and his two friends. "Sir?...Well that was rude..."
Grumbling, she turned around and carried the samples back. Below her, crouching down against the glass of the counter was Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin. "Umm..." Raijin whispered quietly. "Why are we down here?"
"Shh!" Seifer hissed. He looked around warily and then began to crawl towards the exit. "She might hear us!"
He waved his hand behind him and motioned for them to follow. Quickly, they exited the department store. "Here you go, Miss Trepe," the second sales clerk said as she handed Quistis a dark pink box with gold lettering. Quistis looked up and smiled to give her thanks when she saw a blur of white and blond duck out of the door. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Miss Trepe?"
"Hmm? Oh yes! This will be all, thank you," Quistis smiled. She handed the woman her credit card. *Was that Seifer? What's he doing at a mall? With PEOPLE?*
"Remember that time that you entered that hot dog eating contest sponsored by the hot dog place in Balamb?" Irvine asked Zell as they sat around on one of the lounges in the book store. Squall had claimed to be looking for books on motorcycle mechanics, but when Irvine and Zell spotted him, he was in the Fiction section, going through some of Rinoa's books.
"Yeah," Zell said. "I won first place by eating fifteen more hot dogs than the other guy." he replied casually. Irvine turned slightly green at the memory.
"Uh...yeah, well, read this part..." Irvine handed Zell a copy of Rinoa's fifth book of her series. "Chapter six, third paragraph."
Zell took the book and looked over the page that Irvine had it opened to. He began to read. It.
"Dall, you can't be serious!" Noa gasped as the blond filled out the entry form and submitted it.
"Why are you guys so worried?" Dall asked with a confused smile. "If I win, we have FREE sandwiches from this place for LIFE! LIFE people!? Do you know how long that is?"
"Considering the way you're eating, I'm going to guess you'll live another few hours." Casey replied with a roll of her eyes.
"It's too late now," Stephanie said. She pointed to the long table where a dozen people were seated in preparation for the contest. "Better take your seat."
"Wish me luck!" Dall beamed them a smile and ran to take his seat.
Behind the girls, Maverick shook his head. "I am NOT riding with in him on the way back to mansion."
"Do you get it?" Irvine said as soon as Zell finished reading. "Who said those words the day you signed up for the contest?"
"What are you talking about, Irvine?" Zell sighed. "Don't tell me you still think that these characters are based on you. I mean...really..." he leaned forward and whispered. "That's a little vain don't you think?"
The corner of Irvine's eye twitched slightly. "ZELL!!"
"What the hell are you two doing?" a voice snapped as Irvine grabbed Zell's collar in frustration. They turned their heads and saw Squall standing there, holding the white plastic bag from the book store as he gave them a disapproving look.
"Hey, Squall..." Zell smiled meekly.
The commander let out a heavy sigh and turned around. "I'm going to leave you two here..."
"Squall! Squall, wait a second!" Irvine said. "You read Rin's books, right?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about-"
"Isn't Dall based on Zell!?" Irvine burst out, ignoring Squall's denial. The brunette stood there, unfazed by the question.
Slowly, he turned around. "I'm going home."
"Told you!" Zell said. "I don't know where you got that idea."
"I don't know...maybe it was the obsession with FOOD?" Irvine grumbled as they stood up and followed Squall.
"Dall is NOTHING like me," Zell sighed. "The next thing you'll say is that Maverick is based on YOU."
"Seifer?" Selphie said as she wrinkled her nose. "What would HE be doing here?"
"I could've sworn I saw him leaving the department store..." Quistis mumbled thoughtfully.
Rinoa smirked. "Maybe you just thought you saw him because you want to see him?"
"No!" Quistis gasped, trying to push down her blush as she glared at the smirking brunette. "I don't want to see Seifer!"
"You two have been spending quite A LOT of time together lately..." Selphie said in a sing song voice. She grinned devilishly. "Alone..."
"We're practicing for the play!" Quistis gasped defensively. She looked at the two shorter girls. "Honestly!"
"Sure..." Rinoa and Selphie chorused knowingly.
"I'm serious!" Quistis cried out nervously. The other two girls chuckled and merely smiled. The tall blond let out a heavy sigh. "Forget it...I can't win with you two."
"Well, as long as you two are getting the lines down," Rinoa giggled. "I can't wait to see how this goes through. I can't believe I actually have a play that's going to be performed."
"We're pretty close to the opening night," Selphie said with a warm smile. "We're going to start rehearsing the whole play at once soon, right?"
"Yep, on the stage," Rinoa nodded. "Starting this week. It's going to take a while at first, but within a few nights we'll be able to run through the whole play smoothly."
"I have to admit, I'm very impressed with how it's going along. When do the dress rehearsals start?" Quistis asked.
"In a week," Rinoa said. "I want everyone to get comfortable in their costumes before opening night. That way if we have any problems, we can get them fixed before then."
"Where did you learn all of this?" Quistis smiled.
"I went to a private school in Deling City for a while and I've been dancing and performing on stage since I was a child," Rinoa said. She smiled weakly. "I guess having a talented mother pushed into the performing arts."
"Ah...speaking of Deling City..." Quistis trailed off. Rinoa looked over at her. "Your father has...um...requested to come."
"WHAT." Rinoa grumbled with narrowed eyes.
"He wasn't on the invitation list," Quistis admitted. "But somehow he found out, probably through another Galbadia big wig and has reserved seats for himself."
"Rin?" Selphie asked. The young woman had stopped in her tracks. "Are you okay?"
"What does he want?" Rinoa asked in a low voice.
Quistis shrugged and shook her head. "I truthfully don't know."
"He MUST want something," Rinoa said with gritted teeth. "That man has never gone to one of my performances unless he was up to something."
"Maybe he just wants to watch his daughter's play?" Selphie suggested.
"HE DOES NOT!" Rinoa shouted suddenly, making the other two girls jump back.
"Rinoa, calm down," Quistis sighed. "You know we can't just ban him from the play. And he already paid and the ticket has been sent."
"Ugh..." Rinoa grumbled. "Fine..."
Selphie put her arm around Rinoa's shoulder. "Don't worry!" the shorter brunette smiled. "I'm sure everything will be fine!"
"What about that one?" Seifer asked. He pointed to a thing silver bracelet underneath the glass counter in the jewelry store.
"That's an excellent choice, sir," the sales clerk said with a smile. He unlocked the display cabinet and reached it, pulling out a stand with three different bracelets on them. "This bracelet was hand crafted in Centra."
The tall blond was handed the bracelet and he inspected it. "How much is it?"
"The price is excellent for something of that quality-"
"The price." Seifer demanded in a gruff voice.
The male sales clerk smiled weakly. "Eh...1,980.99 gil"
Rinoa held her car keys up and looked around. She turned back and looked at the mall they were leaving, as Quistis and Selphie did the same.
"Did you hear that?" Rinoa asked.
The other two nodded. "I could've sworn I heard Seifer..." Quistis mumbled.
Selphie snickered and gently elbowed the tall blond. "Or WISH you heard him."
"Selphie!" Quistis blushed.
"It wasn't who said it...it was what was said..." Rinoa sighed and pressed the button on her keyless entry key chain. The doors to her car unlocked as they arrived at it. "Poor children and their virgin ears..."
Squall, Irvine, and Zell ran down the corridor of the mall, following the horrendously profane scream that had just occurred moments ago. "It's coming from the jewelry store!" Zell said as he pointed ahead of them.
"What sick bastard would say something like that in a mall with children!" Irvine said. They rushed into the blue and white decorated jewelry store and froze in their tracks. "Well...that explains it."
"What do you mean it's two thousand gil!?" Seifer growled at the cowering sales clerk. "It's a piece of metal with a clasp!!"
"Seifer!" Squall yelled, annoyed.
"Not now, commander puberty!" Seifer yelled over his shoulder. "I'm busy!"
"Raijin! Fujin! Zell! Irvine!" Squall said to the four people who were standing at the door way. "Get him out of here before mall security comes!"
"I don't know, Squall..." Irvine said as he rubbed his chin as he watched the blond grab the clerk by the collars of his shirt and shake him as he yelled.
"Seifer! Stop it, ya know!" Raijin said as he and Zell tried to pull Seifer away. "You can find another gift for Quistis, ya know!"
At the sound of her name, Seifer froze in his spot. Squall went to apologize to the manager and Irvine smirked. "Quistis...?"
"Present," Fujin said from where she was trying to help the scared sales clerk up. She motioned her chin towards Seifer. "Embarrassed."
"I am not embarrassed!" Seifer growled as he was dragged out of the store.
"Seifer, I don't care WHY you were in there," Squall hissed as he stomped out of the jewelry store. "What you do outside of the Garden still reflects on the Garden itself! If you do that again, I'll kick you out myself, understand!?"
"...." *Sure, commander know it all...* Seifer thought to himself bitterly as Zell and Raijin finally let him go. He crossed his arms and glared at the trio of who had arrived.
"If that wasn't Squall's jeweler, they probably would've pressed charges!" Zell exclaimed tiredly.
Squall threw Zell an annoyed glance and Seifer raised an eyebrow. "His JEWELER?" he snorted with a smirk. "Well, well, well..." Seifer grinned. "Does RINOA know about this?"
"Of course she doesn't!" Zell said defensively. "If she found out that Squall bought her an engagement-"
"Zell!" Squall exclaimed with widened blue eyes. Irvine scrambled from his spot and clamped his mouth of Zell.
"Are you crazy!?" Irvine hissed.
"Wait a second," Seifer said. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Squall suspiciously. "You're going to propose to Rinoa?"
Squall's hands balled at his sides as he send a cold glare to Seifer. "If you tell her-"
"You don't tell Quistis about this," Seifer stated suddenly. "And I don't tell Rinoa."
"Eh?" Irvine and Zell asked, both confused.
Squall narrowed his eyes. "You want to strike a deal, Almasy?"
"Just don't tell Quistis about this," Seifer repeated. "And I won't tell Rinoa about the engagement ring."
"Squall isn't going to make a deal like that with you-" Zell began, but Squall extended his hand to Seifer.
"Deal."
"WHAT!?" Zell gasped. Seifer took Squall's hand and shook it. "WHY!?"
"We never were at this mall." Squall mumbled. Seifer nodded as they pulled their hands away.
"I'll see you back at the Garden, COMMANDER." Seifer gave the other two behind Squall a look of warning before he turned around and walked away, the ends of his trench coat billowing behind him. Fujin let out a sigh and shook her head as Raijin took a step forward.
"Seifer, where are you going, ya know?" Raijin said. Seifer froze. "We parked on that side!"
The knocking was loud and continuous as Quistis tightened her bathrobe around her body and ran to the door. She had just stepped out of the shower when the knocking started and she had hoped that whoever was knocking would just leave. Although she had taken her time getting out, the knocking continued.
"I'll be right there!" Quistis sighed as she wrapped her blond hair in a dark pink terry cloth towel turban. She walked across her bedroom to the door and had it slide open. She jerked her head back and looked back into the room, at her clock. "It's only 8:30," she frowned. "We don't have practice for another thirty minutes."
"I'm aware of that, Quistis..." Seifer sighed as he rolled his eyes. He held his script, worn and folded, in one hand. In the other was a small gold bag.
As he stood, stiff at the door way, Quistis raised her eyebrow. "Are you going to leave and come back later or what-"
"Here." Seifer said. He tossed her the bag.
Quistis' hands reached out and grabbed it and narrowed her eyes. "What's this?"
"Thank you present..." Seifer mumbled quickly as he averted her blue eyes. Quistis looked up at him with suspicious eyes.
"What? Repeat that?"
He let out a heavy sigh. "It's a THANK YOU present for helping me out while I was hurt..." he grumbled in a low voice. "All right, I'll see you later." he added quickly
"You got me a present!?" Quistis piped, her eyes wide. "Wait a second!" She grabbed his arm as he turned to leave and pulled him back in with surprising strength. "I want to see."
"Ugh...do I have to be here...?" he grumbled. The door slid closed behind him.
"Let's see..." Quistis said, trying to hide her glee as she pushed aside the white tissue paper and pulled something out. It was a palm sized black box and she grinned. She looked up at him, only to find him seemingly brooding as he turned his head away and kept his green eyes pasted on the door. She opened the black box. "Hyne, Seifer! This is beautiful!"
Reluctantly, Seifer looked back at her as she lifted up the thin silver chain. Her blue eyes softened as her fingers ran down it's length. "It's all right..." he shrugged casually.
"Hyne!" Quistis gasped. Seifer turned and nearly fell. There was a little white tag stuck to the bottom of the box.
*Dammit! I told Raijin to take off the price tag!!* Seifer's mind screamed as he lunged for the box.
Quistis instinctively took a step to the side to avoid him as he stumbled next to her. Her eyes were pasted to the tag. "250 Gil? Seifer, you can't afford this!"
*What does she think I am? POOR!?* Seifer thought to himself. He straightened up and glared at her. "What are you trying to say!?"
"Did you steal this!?" Quistis gasped, holding up the chain.
"NO!" Seifer growled. He snatched the box from her hand, although she was still holding the chain in her hand. "If you don't want it, then give it back!" he demanded, holding out his hand.
Quistis' fingers wrapped around the chain and pulled it close to her chest. "No!"
"What the hell is your problem!?" Seifer growled. "First you accuse me of stealing it, then you won't give it back!"
"I like it!" Quistis said defensively as she blushed. "I want to keep it..."
"What? It's okay if I steal it, now?" Seifer asked bitterly as his green eyes narrowed more.
"I didn't mean that!" Quistis replied in her defense. "But you don't work, Seifer! I can't help but wonder where you got the money for such a present!"
"Hey, I'm not at the garden twenty four hours a day seven days a week!" Seifer retorted angrily. "I DO go out!"
Quistis' eyes went wide. "Oh Hyne..." she gasped. Still clutching the chain against her chest, she lifted up her other hand and cupped his face. "Seifer...do you sell yourself?"
"NO!" he growled. "I am not a male prostitute!!"
"Then-"
"I take odd day jobs!" Seifer exclaimed. "At the market place!"
"So..."
"That thing was bought with decently earned money, Quistis!" Seifer grumbled.
The female blonde's face fell slowly and she looked down. "I'm sorry..." she whispered. "I jumped to conclusions-"
"Yeah, no kidding. You should be ashamed of yourself."
"I am-"
"As well you should be."
"Seifer-"
"No need to apologize..." he sighed arrogantly. "The damage is done. You can't take back what you said."
"Thank you."
Seifer back at her with a questioning look. "What...?"
His eyes locked on hers, trying to read her emotions behind pools of blue. Quistis raised the necklace and smiled slightly. She raised her hand with the necklace on it towards Seifer. "Put it on me?"
Heat filled his face as he took a step back, rather surprised that she had actually asked him to do so. She placed the chain on his hand and turned her back to him. Seifer looked at the chain and at Quistis reluctantly. Slowly he put the chain around her neck and fumbled with the clasp.
Once it was on, he immediately pulled back. Quistis walked away, heading towards the mirror on her dresser. She looked at herself and lifted her head slightly to get a better look at the chain. Seifer looked around nervously. "So...?"
"It's beautiful," Quistis said. "Thank you..."
"Uh...do you want to...practice...now?" he asked, lifting up the script that was tightly clutched in his hand.
Quistis smiled as she walked over to him. "Let's give it a few minutes..."
"Twenty gil says that Quistis is going to slap him." Irvine said as he sat in one of the couches in the library.
"Fifty gil says that she's going to do more than practice with him." Selphie countered, giving Irvine a challenging look.
"Why am I here?" Squall asked as he looked over at Rinoa, who sat next to him. She merely shrugged and smiled as she held on to his arm.
"Why am I holding this?" Zell asked as well. He was standing up by where Irvine was sitting, holding up a large white projection screen.
"Because your girlfriend hasn't found the stand for it and someone has to hold it." Rinoa informed him with a smile.
"Why can't Irvine do it?" Zell frowned. "He's taller!"
"I'M the one giving this presentation," Irvine said as he stood up. He coughed and took out a laser pointer from the breast pocket within his jacket. "Selphie, the first slide, if you please."
"Okay, Irvy!" Selphie piped. She held the controls for the slide project and pressed the button.
"Today, I'm going to go over Rinoa's books," Irvine said as he moved the laser pointer's red dot on the picture on the screen that Zell was holding. "This is the cover of Rinoa's first book in her series, titled White Magic. Notice that the front cover has a shadowy picture of a young woman. Selphie, next picture!"
"Right!" Selphie said. She pressed the button and there were now two pictures. One of the cover photo and one of Rinoa. "Hey! That's from our camping trip!"
"Exactly!" Irvine agreed. "If you look closely, the cover picture is supposed to be the main character of the series, Noa Carilly. Now, let's look at the name, shall we? Rinoa Heartilly? Noa Carilly?"
"I don't get it." Zell said behind the screen. Rinoa was snickering and Squall merely raised an eyebrow.
"What are you getting at?"
Irvine stared at them. "Okay...next slide!" Selphie giggled as she pressed the button. There were several names listed in two rows. First it was their names and then it was the names of characters in the story. "Other than Noa, we have Stephanie Timlit. Reverse the letters in her name and what do you get?"
"Ein-ahp-ets." Zell said. Irvine rolled his eyes.
"Her LAST name."
"Tilmit!" Selphie said. She beamed a smile. "I know."
"Then you know who the character is based after, right?" Irvine asked with a smile. Selphie nodded.
"Of course I do!" Selphie giggled. "Angelo!"
"..." Irvine looked at her tiredly. "Let's move on to the next name...Casey Epert."
"Yesac!" Zell shouted.
"TREPE, Zell!!" Irvine exclaimed tiredly. "She's based on QUISTIS!!"
"Right..." Zell said. "And Dall is my alter ego."
"AH!" Irvine threw down his laser pointer on the couch and grumbled as he stomped out of the area they were in. "You have to be kidding me!!"
Selphie giggled. "This is fun!" she chuckled.
"So..." Zell said as he rolled down the screen. "When ARE we going to tell Irvine that we know who the characters are based on?"
"Just drag it on for a while longer," Rinoa snickered as she leaned against Squall. "This is more entertaining that watching Quistis and Seifer act."
"Speaking of act," Selphie said as she looked at her watch. "Shouldn't they be practicing at this time?"
A sly grin crossed Rinoa's face. "Hehehe...let's go, Selphie!"
"Right!" Selphie and Rinoa ran out of the library, snickering the whole way. Zell began to take apart the slide machine as Squall sat there, looking confused.
He looked at Zell. "So...why AM I here?"
"Is that how you feel?" Rinoa pressed her ear up against Quistis' door as next to her, Selphie did the same. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"What was I supposed to say?" Seifer's voice answered, frustrated. "I know I'm your enemy, but hell, I love you? I'm not stupid! We both know what's at risk here!"
"We could've found something to work it out...peacefully!" Quistis gasped out. Rinoa felt Selphie tug at her sleeve and looked down. Selphie was smiling as she lifted up a bag of pop corn that she had somehow smuggled along with her.
Rinoa grinned as she put her hand in the bag and took out a few pieces. "Peace? What is peace? We all want it, but we use war to achieve it! Do you really think that you could've changed me with your words back then!?"
"I would've tried!" Quistis exclaimed. "I know that deep down, you're a good person."
"I almost killed you."
"But deep down, did you really want to...?"
"..." Rinoa and Selphie pressed their ears closer to Quistis' door as a period of silence ensued. "Does that answer your question?"
"I...I think that...uh...umm..." Quistis began to stammer, nervously.
"You messed up your lines, Quisty." a smug voice replied.
They heard a low growl. "Well, you shouldn't have done that!"
"You have to get used to it!" Seifer retorted, matter of factly. "If we're going to be do doing that on stage, we can't have you being so blow away by me that you're speechless."
"Blown away!?" Quistis exclaimed, annoyed at his arrogance. "Maybe you shouldn't ADD that part into the scene!"
"It's not ADDED, it's written in there." Seifer replied casually.
"Only because you argued with Rinoa about the words!" Quistis retorted. "Did you REALLY dislike the words or did you want to kiss me?"
Rinoa and Selphie looked at each other with surprised looks before continuing with their eavesdropping. "WHY in the world would I have an section of a play altered just so that I could kiss you?" Seifer laughed. "I can do that any time!"
"You're so full of yourself," Quistis told him. "Do you think I would LET you?"
"You weren't exactly pushing me away."
"You weren't exactly pushing me away either," Quistis replied. Within her room she crossed her arms of her chest. "And seemed quite intent on going further."
Outside, Rinoa and Selphie's eyes went large as they practically pasted themselves against Quistis' door, getting strange looks from those who passed by. A deep, slightly hesitant voice spoke. "And if I said I did?"
"I think we should stop for the night!" Quistis said nervously. "Please leave-!"
Rinoa and Selphie struggled to hear what was being said, but found that all they could hear was incoherent mumbling. "I'll see you at rehearsal tomorrow." the deep voice stated.
Without warning, the door slid open. "AH!" Rinoa and Selphie tumbled forward, falling to the black booted feet of Seifer.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Seifer hissed with narrowed eyes as he looked down at them.
"Uh..." Rinoa mumbled as she looked up, flushing with embarrassment.
"You see..." Selphie mumbled as well, her large eyes darting around nervously. Quistis appeared behind them, wearing a long, dull pink cotton night gown under a satin robe that was tied at the waist.
"Selphie? Rinoa?" Quistis asked, at first surprised. She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her waist. "What are you two doing?"
Rinoa looked at Selphie. "Ah! There's my contact lens!" she announced, rather loudly as she lunged for something in the hall way. Before anyone else said anything, she took off running down the hall.
"Rin! Wait for me!" Selphie gasped. She glanced once more at Seifer and Quistis. She gave them a weak smile. "Uh...bye!"
As Selphie tore down the hall after Rinoa, Quistis sighed. "Next time, can we practice in a more private place?"
Seifer merely smirked. "What's more private than a woman's bedroom?"
"Seifer..." Quistis said, giving him a frown of disapproval. "I'm serious."
"So am I," he said. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Until tomorrow, princess."
Quistis raised her eyebrow as Seifer performed an overly dramatic bow and made a big show of leaving. She rolled her eyes and returned to her room. As her door slid closed, she leaned against it and reached under the collar of her night gown. She pulled out the silver chain. "Until tomorrow, knight..."
Next Time: Masterminds Selphie and Rinoa finally order the first full rehearsals of the play. Seifer and Squall have a secret meeting and Quistis begins to uncover the secret behind the play. Will she discover that it's actually an elaborate plan to change the course of her love life? Will someone finally tell Irvine that they know that the characters are based on them? What are Seifer and Squall ploting in that unlikely alliance?