Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy 8.. yada yada... square enix owns it... yada yada
~* At Times, Love Can Be... *~
Les amoureux chantent avec la reine des tasses à l'homme accroché pendant que la haute prêtresse marmonne une prière ou deux et le roi des tasses embrasse l'amoureux de la rafale tendrement.Chapter @
***
"It won't hurt." Zell reminded Squall as he and Irvine dragged poor Squall down the sidewalk.
"I don't care! I don't want some creepy student molesting my hand and throwing cards at me!" Squall cried in protest as he tried to wrench away from the other's vice grips on his arms.
"Would you relax! There's nothing to worry about!" Irvine reminded as they neared the fortuneteller's shop.
"I'm not paying for this, right?" Squall asked, just making sure. There was a silence and Irvine and Zell shared worried glances. Squall took the hint. "THAT'S IT!" He cried and began to violently pull away.
"We're kidding!" Zell lied. "We're paying." Irvine shot him a death glare but realized that Zell had just taken Squall's wallet out, had taken 20 bucks out then replaced it. Irvine suppressed a laugh and Zell smiled broadly. Squall calmed himself, knowing that the others were paying for it.
They entered the student's dorm and the student psychic immediately greeted them with a smile and ushered the one who was to be read to take a seat across from her. Squall did so and looked about the small 'dorm'. It was decorated with assorted items ranging from tricycles that hung from the ceiling to simple puppy calendars.
"Nice place." Squall stated sarcastically, but the psychic didn't quite catch the joke.
"Thanks." She said with a proud smile. "Now, lets get down to business." She said, quite seriously. "You want to know about your love life, correct?" She questioned, acting nonchalant. Squall was taken a back by the truth of her statement.
"Shit! How did you know that?" He exclaimed, an impressed smile on his lips.
"Psychic.... hello! Duh..." The woman said with a quick roll of her eyes. "Now... would you like a palm reading or a tarot reading?" She asked, looking to him.
"Shouldn't you know what I'm going to say?" Squall challenged as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
"Some people have emotional and/or mental breakdowns when they know that I know EVERYTHING they're going to do." She explained. Squall rolled his eyes.
"Tarot." Zell chimed in from over Squall.
"Tarot it shall be. 20 dollars." She said, getting straight to the point. Zell handed her the money and she shook her head disapprovingly as she touched the money. She looked to Squall. "Thank you." She said with a kind smile.
"I didn't give you the money tho-" Zell butted into Squall's sentence.
"Tarot time!" He cried with a bright smile. The student nodded and pulled from her pocket a tall deck of cards with beautiful pictures drawn on to them with cryptic titles beneath. She shuffled the cards just like any normal deck and pulled one from the top and put it in the dead center of the table. She laid the next card to the left of the table, directly across from the center card. The next went to its northern positioning on the table, the next card to the east and finally, the last card, to the south, closest to her. She flipped them all over so the pictures and cryptic, french, wording were now visible.
"The first card... Les Amourex. A Romantic encounter will come into your life. This may be an attraction that might not be the best for you. An attraction in opposites will occur and will be difficult to understand for the most part. A difficult choice will soon arise; base your actions on the facts and not your emotions." She said, looking at him deeply. Squall listened intently. "The second card... Reine des tasses. There's going to be/there is a feminine influence with a strong loving and protecting nature. There will be a quiet contentment with life." The woman reached for the third card and Squall smiled to Irvine and Zell at his happiness foretold in the cards. "The third card... L'Homme Accroché... A challenge to the way you think and live is approaching. A hiatus with inaction signals the suggestion of the rethinking of goals. Keep your feet on Terra Firma and do not be fooled by illusions or trickery. Everything seems to be waiting on you as if in suspension, perhaps because of your indecision on the matter." Squall nodded and the woman continued. She flipped the fourth card over. "The fourth card... Haute Prêtresse. Hidden influences are at work; the future is not certain and is still being formed. It is an excellent time to make new goals, refine old ones, build intuition, and build psychic skills to allow yourself to be more introspective." She lifted the fifth and final card and flipped it over. "The fifth card... Roi de Tasses. A loving and caring masculine figure has an influence on you. There's a possibility of a journey across waters. A state of emotional ups and downs are on their way." She concluded. Squall nodded his head, not knowing what to do next.
"So... uhh." Squall finally responded after an awkward, silent moment. "Thanks. Bye." He said with a an uncomfortable laugh as he placed his hands on the table to push back but as he did, the reader grabbed his hand. Squall yelped in alarm as did Irvine and Zell at her quick motions.
"You two," The reader began, referring to Irvine and Zell. "Leave for a moment." She commanded. The two boys shared glances but dashed out the door none the less.
"There's something very interesting about you." The reader mumbled.
"Excuse me?" Squall exclaimed, a bit disgusted. "Are you flirting with me!?"
"Get off your high horse." The reader said with a scowl and Squall scowled right back. "There's a woman in your life who you have recently met..." She began. Squall nodded slowly, trying to remember who she was talking about. "She had dark hair." The reader whispered in a hushed voice, trying to refresh his memory.
"That Rinoa girl?" Squall questioned leaning forward in interested curiosity.
"Yes. That is her name." The reader said with a soft smile. She removed her hand from his and leaned back into her chair, but Squall remained in his position. She stared at him with calm eyes and a pleasant smile and returned the stare, but not in the same mood. "You have a way with women, don't you?" She questioned suddenly.
"Excuse me?" Squall questioned in surprise.
"You can flirt with them, kiss them and make love to them. All on one date." The reader said, providing evidence for her abrupt accusation. Squall said nothing, knowing it was true. He waited for her next wisdom filled words. "There is a dark brunette rose unready to bud. It is in the closed, cramped Garden. The other Roses will only bloom when this brunette Rose has blossomed and withered away. What will the bees do? They will die and their corpses will fade and turn to dust on the path." The girl said cryptically.
Squall gave her a perplexed look. "Are you on some kind of drug?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"Symbolism is to tough for you?" She asked as she crossed her arms across her chest with a huff.
"That wasn't symbolism... that was... that was... I don't know what the hell it was!" Squall exclaimed as he stood from his seat and turn for the door. Once he exited, he slammed the door shut and stormed off to their own dorm building. Zell and Irvine watched him walk off and did not dare follow or ask for fear much pain would be involved. They looked to each other, nervous looks on their faces then finally scurried after him.
"Squall!" Zell called as he ran up to his side. "What did she say?" He asked. Squall stopped and turned his whole body to face Zell who instantly recoiled upon eye contact.
"That bitch is CRAZY!" Squall exclaimed as he gripped Zell's shoulder painfully hard. "She doesn't even know what the hell she's talking about!" screamed Squall as his hands removed themselves from Zell and to his own hair. Squall pulled his hair in frustration as he bit his lip. "She shouldn't deserve a DIME of ANYONE'S money!!" He screamed as he stomped off.
"Jeez..." Irvine mumbled.
"What the hell did she say to him anyways?" Zell questioned, looking back to the dorm building they had just been in. Squall turned back to the two of them and a silence echoed between them on the seemingly empty campus.
"The BITCH said some STUPID crap about 'living in a cramped garden' or some SHIT like that!" He screamed back to them. As he finished his rant he whirled around and continued his enraged storming. Zell looked around the campus.
"Cramped garden?" Zell wondered. Irvine looked to the blue skies above and shrugged.
"Cramped garden." He stated, as if trying the phrase out. He walked after the fuming Squall, leaving Zell.
"What can grow in a cramped garden?" Zell asked to no-one-in-particular as if questioning the logic of such a statement.
**
Squall sat at his desk in the dim light of his lamp as he attempted to read a book.
"A cramped garden?" He mumbled as he looked up from his book. He looked out his window and into the darkness of night and saw a light flash for a brief second, then disappear. In fascination, he pushed back from the desk and let the book close, forgetting to save his place. He walked to his window and opened it which caused a refreshing cool breeze to blow through and shuffle his hair about his face. The papers that littered the floor lightly tossed themselves about. His eyes focused on the sudden shot of light that reappeared again.
"What the hell?" He wondered in the tiniest of mumbles. "I've... never seen that before." noted Squall curiously. A knock rang lightly throughout his small dorm, instantly breaking his fascination. He sighed in annoyance and looked to his wall clock it read 11:30 pm. He walked to his door and pressed his ear against it. "Who is it?" He asked, just loud enough for this late-night comer to hear, but not the other people in the dorm.
"It's me. Quistis Trepe." Quistis greeted with a cheery voice from the other side. He frowned, but undid the lock and opened the door anyways. "Hello." She greeted lamely as she brushed past him to enter. He closed his door but decided to not lock it, she would be out soon enough.
"It's a bit late to be coming over here. Don't you have tests tomorrow or something?" He asked as he watched her take a seat on the chair at his desk.
"Nope. I finished what little homework I had and there are no tests tomorrow." She said with a smile as she began to examine the book he was reading. Squall took a seat on his bed and there was a silence between them. Quistis turned her head so she could see the teen out of the corner of her eye and she smiled with mischief. She let the book drop from her hands and she stood and walked to the window. This action instantly reminded Squall of what he had seen, but decided to say nothing knowing that she would take it as an invitation to stay longer. Squall thought quickly and decided upon on an excuse to get her out of his room.
He stood, yawned and stretched. "I think you should get going, I'm gonna go to bed now." He said with his tiredness obviously being faked. Quistis nodded and began to walk away towards the door but as she walked past his desk she flicked off his lamp, causing the room to drown with darkness save for the heavy moonlight. Quistis instantly tossed herself to Squall, rapping her left arm around his chest and her right around his back. Together, they fell to his bed with a soft bump. She knew he wouldn't resist her offerings but all he did was stare into her eyes in a placid manner.
"Silly..." Quistis began in a tiny voice as she lightly placed her hands against his chest. "That trick won't work on me." She whispered against his ear as she scooted closer to him.
"I think you should leave now." he stated simply.
"Come now. You know you won't resist. I'm throwing myself at you." She reminded him as she looked him in the eyes and licked her lips delicately. She gently cupped his cheek with her hand.
"Tonight is not the best night." He said as he felt his heartbeat quicken.
She giggled lightly as her hand slowly slid down his face and to his neck. "You're so funny Mr. Leonhart." She said as her hand slid further down his body. She giggled once more as she found the spiked belt on his pants. Slowly, her hands followed the light bumps to the buckle. She lifted his shirt to reveal the cold steel that was the buckle. "You're so lean and... so muscular." She said with a hushed voice as she undid the buckle and unzipped his shorts. Squall instantly snapped back into reality and away from Quistis' spell as he shot from his bed.
"That's enough! I told you you have to go!" He yelled. Quistis simply remained in her position with a look of indifference on her beautiful face.
She let out a displeased grunt but got up as instructed. She leaned against Squall and whispered into his ear: "Another night.". Her hand reached down for Squall's zipper and slowly zipped it up. She pushed off of him, walked for his door and opened it. She turned to him and he to her. "You're so fickle." She said as she exited. Squall gave a glare to the door frame in which she had just left. He buckled his belt back up and looked to his window once again. He walked to it and searched for the light, but the world was dark save for the calming moonlight. He shrugged it off and looked to his desk, contemplating to continue what he was doing or to go to sleep. He figured sleep as he never got much anyways. He stripped himself bare except for his boxers and got into bed.
**
"Hey locker buddy!" A voice cried out from behind Squall during his Gym class. They were swimming that day, taking full advantage of the amazing weather they were having.
Squall turned around and found Rinoa walking up to him from a distance, waving her hand wildly above her. Squall smiled and waved back, he got up from his pool side seat and walked towards her. They met half way, Rinoa waving the whole time.
"Hey. What's up?" He asked, ushering her back to where he was just at. She took the hint and began to walk with him.
"Oh, nothing much. Just decided to take a walk around campus. This is my free period." She explained as she attempted to hide her ever increasing blush. She continued to steal glances of his half naked body and each time she did she got a little more crimson and a little more flustered in her thoughts.
"Cool-beans." He said making Rinoa giggle a little. "This is my Gym class. We're not so Gym-ish today, us being outside and all."
"Can't blame the teacher. It's been really, really nice out lately. Occasionally windy, but other than that." She stated with a smile as they looked to each other. A sudden gust of wind swept them by surprise and Rinoa's hair danced with the wind. She pulled her dark, brunette hair back over her ear and smiled at Squall.
There is a dark brunette rose unready to bud
The words repeated themselves to Squall and he took a deep sigh, confused. The wind died down and Squall's hair was left a mess in the after math of the sudden gust. Rinoa laughed and reached up to fix it. She combed it gently and they talked a bit more as Quistis watched from a pillar, jealousy coursing through every fiber of her being.
"Gah." Quistis spat with disgust. "He knows her for less than 24 hours and they look to each other like they've been dating for months." Her grip on the pillar tightened in rage. "'Oh my, let me fix your hair for you because I know you can't do it your damn self!'" Quistis mimicked of Rinoa. "I hate her so much."
"It is disgusting, isn't it?" A boy asked as he looked to the two who were so shamelessly flirting with one another.
"It's filthy. Makes me feel dirty even as I talk about it." She said with a shudder. She returned to her safe station from behind the pillar. She looked directly to the boy and sighed heavily. "Why does Squall have to be so good at sex, Nida?" She asked as she slid down the pole.
"I wouldn't know that answer, I'm sorry." He apologized.
"Of course you wouldn't." Quistis said with little enthusiasm. She looked to Nida who gave her the expression of indifference. She sighed in annoyance and turned her head back to the two flirting. They were now sitting at the edge of the pool, their legs dipped deep under the surface of the clear water.
//
"I heard the boy's Gym class has to do extra work." Rinoa stated as she kicked her legs around gently. The water gently swept with her legs as she moved them.
"Yeah. It's pretty stupid actually. Our Gym class is an extra hour longer than the girls because first we do our normal sports activities and then we clean whatever Gym related things the teacher tells us to." He said as he looked around, trying to find the teacher.
"That sucks. Sorry." Rinoa apologized with a fake tone in her voice. "You're like the janitors... except you're not paid." she noted.
"We make things all clean and tidy for your class." Squall said with a smile.
"Pretty crappy job you do then." Rinoa said with a laugh as she stood from her position.
"Psshh.. Thanks. Maybe I should rethink that locker switch idea." He said with a laugh.
"No! I like that locker!" Rinoa pleaded, as if he was serious. Squall stood as well and they began to walk for the exit of the swimming pool area. "Shouldn't you be staying here? The teacher will get mad." Rinoa told him as she stopped and looked back to the pool where his other classmates were.
"Right, right." He said, not to happy about that idea. "See you later then, locker buddy." Squall mocked with a smile as he turned away from her.
"See yah around." she said with a tiny wave and a smile. She turned away and released her blush upon her face. Her face turned crimson and she giggled, not knowing what else to do. She jogged away to tell Selphie with a bright smile plastered on her face. She skipped lightly to the library where she knew Selphie would be studying her little heart out.
As Rinoa rounded a corner she bumped into someone causing two loud grunts to escape from their lips. They stumbled back a bit and Rinoa saw who she had hit. Xu was standing there with an amused smile on her face as she looked at Rinoa with bright eyes.
"I knew you didn't want me to be Class President but jeez!" Xu exclaimed sarcastically.
"You're a great president. I'd never sabotage with you a broken leg or anything." Rinoa confirmed excitedly, the news just waiting to spill.
"You seem to be full of pep. What's up?" Xu asked, generally curious.
"I'm going to go tell Selphie something!" Rinoa said as she jogged off. "C'mon! You can hear this too!" Rinoa called looking back to her. Xu remained in her spot, thinking of what to do. Follow? Or not? Not that it made a great difference, but Xu liked to blow things out of proportion. Her life was mundane. Why not liven it up? "C'MON!!" Rinoa yelled as she stopped in her tracks and ushered Xu over to where she was.
"Coming! Coming!" Xu yelled back as she ran after Rinoa....
***
Squall sat by his window and watched the light from the previous night flash every so often. It mystified him as he sat in the moonlit dark of his room. Just what the hell was that? He placed his elbow against the window sill and propped his head up with his hand as he continued to stare. A knock woke him from his day dream and reluctantly stood up. He looked to the time and found it to be 11:00 pm. He knew who it was, but decided to answer the door anyways.
"Who is it?" He asked from the other side of the door.
"It's me." Quistis's voice said. Squall rolled his eyes but let her in anyways. As usual, she brushed right past him and into his room as if she lived there. She sat down on the bed with a little plop of her body and sighed with contentment as if she had been walking all day.
"What are you doing here this time?" He asked in his usual cold voice.
"Goodness. You sound so cold." She said, instantly picking up on his attitude. "You didn't seem this hard hearted when you we're with Rinoa today." She continued as she crossed her legs and smirking to herself. She knew she hit a chord and hit it in just the right way.
Squall tried to repress his surprise from releasing itself on his physical being. His mind didn't do the same however. 'She saw us?' he wondered to himself. He was afraid of how this situation would unfold.
"I always act like this." Squall answered, avoiding the Rinoa subject all together. Quistis mentally cursed, she knew he knew what she was planning. Bring him out into the open and blast him to pieces...
"Not necessarily..." Quistis countered as she stood from his bed. Squall took a quick look out of the corner of his eye to her and he could easily tell what her intentions for tonight were. Her denim miniskirt was short and her tank top showed enough of her cleavage to shoot basketballs into it. Her legs were of a bronze tan as with the rest of her fair body. Her blonde hair was untied at the moment and it framed her precious face and fell down a little bit past her shoulder. Squall's sexual desires rose to infinite heights as his eyes trekked her body all over. Quistis could see the lust in his eyes and she moved forward, slowly but surely. Her hips lightly swayed and her hands hung loosely at her sides.
She came to him and her lips lightly brushed his, taunting him with their eroticism. Squall couldn't resist any longer and snatched her waists into his arms. He pulled her closer and their lips meshed together as if they needed each other for life support. Quistis secretly smirked, knowing that she had won him over. By tomorrow, Rinoa will have been forgotten. As soon as Quistis's victory let her cheer, Squall pushed her away with a hard force. She stumbled back in pure shock as she looked to him. She could tell he was shocked, but more over, angry. He wiped his mouth, as if cleaning himself of her all together.
"Stop coming to my room. You're not welcome here anymore." Squall said coldly and quite seriously. Quistis stood straight and glared deep into his eyes. She clenched her fists till the point that it hurt. She whipped her body around and flung the door open, hurried outside and slammed it shut as loud as she could. Squall stared after the door, wondering what to do now...
//
Quistis stormed down the hall and glanced to a paper sign that read 'Please don't slam the doors. Thank you - on behalf of the Student Counsel'. As she walk past she extended an arm and ripped it from its place on the wall with a swift motion.
"Go to hell Student Counsel." Quistis mumbled as she turned a corner....
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A/n: I'm sure there are so many grammatical and spelling errors. Blah.
I really, really, really, really need a beta reader for my stories... If someone would like to do it, please email me. You can find my email in profile. Thank you!
WARNING:::::: THE STORY'S TITLE WILL BE CHANGING TO '''FIANCE''' ON 3-13-04!!!!! Just remember...
Hey... I'm bored... talk to me online! LOL! I'm really nice, it's true!