Chapter 8

Precisely three minutes of absolute silence had passed since Seifer had made that grippingly good line of reasoning. And that was the second time since her entrance, that he managed to relegate her status to that of a duck. Funny how he seems rather capable of doing that so easily. If it truly was her purpose to rid of him earlier and if she truly valued her friends' confidence as she'd declared, then why didn't it occur to her to inform them of Seifer? His statement of logic still floated through her mind that she almost, nearly cried.

Quistis gave herself a mental kick. Nothing. Nobody, especially this sorry excuse of a man, Seifer Almasy, will goad her to crumble and break down now. She is Quistis Trepe, Instructor No.14, one of the successful SeeDs who led the victorious battle of the last Sorceress War and she'd be foolish if she's going to let him and his words get under her skin.

But nonetheless, her lips trembled. Quistis wanted to smack herself.

And Seifer just stood there, looking at her with the most stoic expression. Did he even notice that she was between the margin of a whimper and a sob? She wanted to blame him. Something, anybody. She wanted to lash out at him for choosing to be under the door the exact time she had booted it. She wanted to yell at Selphie for not sending the hired cab she promised. She wanted to kick Irvine for all his sharp and mocking remarks and at Laguna for choosing a sports car for a gift, of all things. But even as her brain refused to believe that they didn't deserve such treatment, her desire to have something or someone vent her frustration upon won over common sense.

But that little modicum of sense was squealing at the back of her mind, drowned out by her confusion. And it silently cried that all of this was her fault. Aside from having to blame someone or something else, her plans were founded upon weak suppositions and assumptions. She had kept her hopes up, too high up if it was possible. Quistis assumed that Selphie was sending a taxi. She believed that Squall was coming back with one. But both 'Plan A' and 'B' proved to be a failure. And she was supposed to be a first-rate SeeD. What kind of agent was she if she couldn't even make a simple strategy with a positive groundwork? Cid would definitely question why he even considered re-hiring her.

Seifer looked as if he was waiting for her to say something.

Quistis searched her brain for something to say. But her mind was still in brambles that it left her tongue-tied.

And so Quistis did the only thing she was capable of.

She closed her eyes and clutched her dress close to her chest.

And screamed.

In the highest-pitch she could manage.

Seifer's nerves jumped at lightning rate and found his back slamming against something cold. He couldn't remember ever having a heart attack, but he certainly felt like he just had one. The heart he thought he'd dropped pounded in his chest along with his ears. Dear God, can the woman scream.

"Get a hold of yourself!" he barked. Seifer found his hands gripping around her upper arms and shook. Maybe over that screaming, he didn't even notice his feet move towards her.

Her uproar lasted for a good ten seconds.

Quistis wasn't even aware of his hands on her when she smiled weakly saying, "I feel a lot better now."

That earned her a raised brow.

"I'm not even going to ask what the hell was that about. But now I'm positively sure that you are crazy." Even as he said that, he wondered why he couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"Oh, Seifer – may I call you Seifer or Mr. Almasy?" she asked expansively in a rather accommodating voice. Wait a minute! Quistis suddenly became accommodating?

He held her at arm's length and eyed her inquisitively. Maybe he's the one going crazy here.

"Whatever suits you," he returned as he dropped his arms to the side. "Now, you lost me at 'Oh Seifer', go on."

She released a sigh before continuing. "What I was trying to say, is that I never meant for everything to end up in such a mess. I'm in as much of a spot as you are. Maybe much more. But nonetheless…" Quistis chewed on her lip.

"Nonetheless?" he prodded.

"Nonetheless…I'm stumped. I don't know what to do, now with you being awake and all."

Seifer rolled his eyes heavenwards. Now why did that hold a sting of insult? And the most confusing part of it was why would he even consider feeling insulted by her. He tilted his head to the side indicating that she explain herself.

"No, you've got it all wrong. I am relieved you're up and about." Quistis was wringing her hands unconsciously and muttered, "Not that you were more manageable asleep."

Seifer's brows pulled up.

"I guess I wasn't prepared to confront you." There, she'd said it.

Why he didn't like her answer was beyond mind-boggling. Wasn't that the same excuse he'd used that he began to avoid Balamb and Esthar altogether? Clearly nobody would want a grim reminder of their shadowy past, let alone a walking, talking and a damnably attractive one. Oh, he wasn't going to hedge around it any longer. Even if Quistis is somewhat of an aide memoir to his disreputable acts, he'd come to accept, in the first five minutes of their re-acquaintance, that she's a reminder he didn't mind looking at.

"Well, if it should put your mind at ease, you'd be happy to know that I can definitely take care of myself from here." Seifer swiveled around to place his weapon back to its encasement and swung his duffel bag over his shoulders.

Quistis didn't know whether to stop him or just stand there like a fool.

He turned to face her and offered her a quick nod, without a word of thanks, as he said, "Goodbye, Dear Instructor."

She couldn't tell if he meant that as an endearment or if he was simply mocking her, but even so, she heard herself call out, "Wait!"

He began to wonder if her outcry was a blessing in disguise or merely coincidence when he spun around, just before he reached for the door that a loud hammering fell from the other side.

Both Seifer and Quistis jumped.

"QUISTIS!!! Are you alright? Open the door! It's Irvine!" The pounding continued.

Quite by instinct, she tried to muzzle Seifer by pressing a hand over his mouth when she yelled, "I'm okay! I'm not fully dressed!"

"Still?!" The voice boomed. "I heard screaming! Now let me in!" Irvine beat the door again.

Inside the engine room, Seifer twisted her hands from his jaws and then communicated with her through his facial expressions. The one he wore told her that his patience is thinning to its limit. "Why do you keep doing that?" he ground out.

"Shush!" She turned back to the door to try and drive Irvine away. "Irvine! I told you I'm alright!" she hollered.

"Didn't sound like it! Did you step on a rat or something?!"

"Yah! Something like that!" Quistis said figuratively.

Seifer looked as if he was going to explode. Steam nearly came out of his ears and nostrils.

"I didn't know you for someone who'd scream at a rat! Now open the door! I don't care if you're naked as a post but I swear, I'm going to ram my way in!"

"Oh no you're not! I said I'm fine! Now please go away!"

Irvine had proven himself more than twice as persistent when she heard a body slamming itself against the door.

Quistis looked at Seifer.

The fool was grinning from ear to ear! Isn't he supposed to be infuriatingly incensed? What does he find so funny now?

She questioned him with a scowl.

"You better get yourself at least half-naked now, before he actually comes through," Seifer said with a sniff.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?" Quistis narrowed her eyes as if she was just presented with a challenge. "I'll show you half-naked, you obnoxious boar."

He didn't know if he was supposed to look away like any gentleman should or gawk like a half-starved schoolboy, but it seems that whatever he told his eyeballs, they only seem to be stubbornly glued to a pair of creamy shoulders Quistis had just revealed after pushing her dress down. And he found it dishearteningly disappointing that it didn't go any farther than the top of her breasts.

"Irvine! Stop! I'm going to open the door!" Quistis motioned for Seifer to move behind her and reached for the door latch.

"What are you doing?" he asked hoarsely.

Quistis didn't answer him but instead, she unlocked the barricade and made a little crack as she piped her head out to greet Irvine. The only part of her that Irvine could see was from the shoulders up, but he didn't look as if he truly believed her nude behind the door, from the way he crossed his arms and his foot tapping in impatience.

"There, I opened the door. Now can you please leave?" she said emphatically.

"I'm not that easy get rid of. And I'm sure as hell you're not naked." Irvine said smoothly.

Behind her, Seifer was secretly eyeing Irvine through the hinges, as if he was assessing his character. He could see that the man was almost his height only that he was of different coloration. Seifer barely remembered him during his childhood, there were a lot of children at the orphanage after all, and there were brief chance meetings he'd had with him, not many of them pleasant to recall during the Sorceress War. But despite all that, Seifer had already come to the conclusion that this Irvine fellow might be someone he could come to respect.

"Well I might not be fully naked, but I'm still in the process of clothing myself properly. I can't let you in," Quistis reasoned.

"I know." Irvine just smiled. "So I'll just wait right here," he continued as he made himself comfortable by propping his back against a wall.

Seifer almost applauded the man on the other side, but he just consigned himself into smiling his amusement. He wondered how Quistis is going to carry on from there. Although he had no doubt she's intelligently capable, but it was her methods that he found peculiarly surprising.

"Irvine," she implored. "You don't have to wait. Really."

"Oh, I don't mind. I'll just sit here by my lonesome while you do your business." He presented her with a sharp look before adding, "Whatever that is."

Quistis didn't say anything. Seifer expected her to at least produce a gargling snarl that would sure to drive Irvine away, but she just remained there, hunched with head between the door. He wasn't entirely certain what she thought to gain from keeping Irvine of knowing about him being there, but he had an uneasy feeling that somehow he didn't particularly mind having her secretly hide him from everyone else, that she would be the only person who has any access to him didn't bother him at all.

The thought was unnerving.

"Fine, I'll be out in a second," Quistis closed the door smoothly and released a dejected sigh that told him she was done in.

It was surprising how Seifer could already interpret her sighs given that they'd only been re-acquainted rather abnormally.

"Seifer, he's not going anywhere." Quistis said faintly.

"That's not my problem," he returned steadily.

"You're right. I have to come clean."

That earned her a reprieving look. "You should've thought of that sooner."

Her yes narrowed. "If you wanted to be discovered in the first place, you should've just screamed."

"You beat me to it." He shrugged. "But then I also wanted you to come up with the solution for yourself, since you are so vent on trying to make every situation so damn flawless."

She knew it wasn't the time to exchange blows with him, but his comment required her to say her piece and clear something out of his murky insidious mind. "Unlike some of us, I have plans and more important things to do. I have a job after all that needs full consideration above all things. So forgive me if I was trying to live my life a little normally."

"I don't know what you call normal, but it whatever it is, certainly isn't healthy," he said condescendingly.

"Obviously, our definition of 'normal' doesn't agree with each other, even if it makes me wonder if you are normal."

"The important word in that sentence being if, of course."

"Hmph,"

He didn't know whether to be offended or relieved that she'd just quantified his intelligence with a single, 'hmph'.

Quistis turned for the door before she actually grinds her teeth to powder. She'd rather face Irvine's cutting jeers at any day than stand by idly in the company of this insufferable lout for another five minutes. She couldn't even begin to guess how she managed for the last ten minutes.

Seifer walked ahead of her and reached the door before she could. He couldn't have made it more obvious how much he wanted to get out of there as well, with his bag over his shoulder and the black encasement of his weapon under his arm, he took the handle and twisted the door open himself and greeted Irvine dispassionately.

"Well, I'll be damned," Irvine mumbled

"Don't wait on my account," Seifer gave him a lazy salute.

Irvine's brows shot up when he was followed by Quistis, who was holding a pair of shoes as her dress drooped unceremoniously around her shoulders while looking viciously irate. Irvine could only think of one possible scenario. Something that involved of actually getting undressed, and it didn't take long for him to suspect that she might have been truly half-naked behind the door minutes ago.

Quistis didn't miss the suspicious gleam in his eyes and explicated, "It's not what you think!"

"Well, some rat that was," he muttered. He turned to Seifer and said, "Hey, Seifer. I don't think we've been properly introduced. Irvine Kinneas. But I take it you know that already." Irvine extended a hand towards Seifer and beamed. His famous, big, friendly, slightly playful smile that always, almost seems to work.

And today was no exception.

Seifer took his offered hand and shook it. "Seifer Almasy. And I take it you already know that too."

There was a warm and relaxing air about Irvine in which Seifer had found it easy to convey with. It was such a humbling feeling that he found it easy to smile back. Funny how Irvine just addressed him as if he were nothing more than a business contact, even as he knew that his questionable character earned him a disparaging remark from this fellow.

But Irvine was a considerably principled man that he was willing to acknowledge Seifer, not for his faults and misgivings, but as a human being, and that had earned him his respect.

Seifer wasn't mistaken when he deduced that he could actually like this guy. Maybe he's someone he could be friends with.

"Had a fun time in the engine room?" Irvine asked.

Or the worst enemy.

"It's not what you think!" Quisits jumped at the last statement delivered. "I can't believe you even thought of that."

"Makes you wonder what else he could think of," Seifer interjected.

Irvine pretended to study his nails and said, "Nothing worth mentioning."

Quistis rolled her eyes skywards and thought how she might want to strangle the two of them. It was clearly a regrettable mistake to have brought Seifer out. Now, she'll receive twice the insolence now that Seifer and Irvine have joined forces.

"Maybe you two would want to explain. Because I'm really hungry now and I want get to Mrs. Dincht's house before Zell does."

"It's his house. He needs to get there first," she bit out.

"Whatever, now tell me what happened."

Quistis blew out a long shaky breath before beginning. "Alright, It's like this…"

All in all, Irvine soaked up her story like a sponge. It had really taken the edge off, finally telling him everything. By the time Quistis had finished explaining, with frequent interruptions on Seifer's part, Irvine grew silent, which was unusual.

"Irvine?" Maybe he was thinking she had been mad in the head. She fleetingly looked at Seifer, who seemed rather comfortable seeing her aggravated.

Finally, Irvine broke away from his silence. "Quistis, you know he's in Garden premises."

She nodded solemnly.

"And that means he's trespassing on the account that he's not a SeeD nor a cadet."

Seifer flinched at that comment but none of them seemed to notice.

"He can't waltz out of here without being ID'd." he went on. "They've just heightened the security level now that Laguna's visiting for I don't know how long." He turned to Seifer. "Look, man, even if we back you up on this, and we will, you'll still be quarantined. And I'm sure you didn't plan on staying here for that long. But I've got an idea."

Seifer seem to have measured his logic in an instant, but he can't ignore the dread that came along with it.

"Irvine, I hope it's not one of your diabolical schemes," Quistis said.

"No. It's quite fascinating actually."

This got both Quistis and Seifer's curiosity.

"Since he isn't my problem, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't stay in your dorm-room. Besides, he isn't my excess baggage," Irvine announced.

The baggage in question threw him a scathing look while Quistis remained, as she was, except that her mouth was gaping open like a fish.

Both said nothing.

"If you think I'm trying to play the both of you then you're mad. The only reason I suggested it is that there simply is nowhere else he can stay," he said plainly.

"I'm going back to the engine room," Seifer was turning back but Irvine stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that. The Ragnarok has it's own maintenance crew who comes every now and then," Irvine cleared out.

Seifer turned to Quistis who nodded in truth.

"I bet they won't be so difficult to avoid," Seifer mumbled.

Quistis never really believed that someone would rather spend the night in the cold engine room with an old janitor than in her company, until then. It confused her that she cared to be offended by his choice of accommodation when all she really wanted in the beginning was not to familiarize herself with him. She didn't know why she bothered, didn't care to think of it through, but she swallowed what probably was the biggest lump in her throat and found her most calm and collected voice that said, "Seifer, as a symbol of my apology for everything unpleasant that I placed on you, it would be a great relief if you'd stay at my dorm."

Her countenance told them that she'd be very, extremely insulted if her rather generous offer was declined, even if she offered in the name of pride, and wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer.

Seifer felt Irvine's elbow on his ribs.

Quistis looked like a thundercloud on legs, on long shapely legs. He didn't know how long they were staring at each other, but he broke the silence when he croaked out, "Alright."

The one word that would keep him within closer proximity with Quistis, for longer than he hoped possible.

And nothing could have scared him more.

A/N: I made it! Tuesday, July 23, 2002, 11:23 pm Eastern Daylight Time! I just got home from work and I hurried as fast as I could to upload this story. I know I promised Tuesday, but now here it is. I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 9 will be posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002. Thank you for all your kind reviews!