Disclaimer: Despite my great leave of absence, I still don't own FF8 … frustrating, isn't it?
Chapter XIIIIt was absolutely horrible. I found myself, at several occasions, wondering how the hell those demons could be related to the Caraways. That girl there, Summer, I wanted to throw her out a freaking window. What was she, nine or something? And telling me that she disapproved of facilities that masked themselves as schools to train young militia … who the hell does she think she is?
Anyways, after unnecessarily snide comments about me sharing a room with Rinoa, I managed to crawl into bed with the little will power I had left. Everyone was asleep, or trying to … except maybe Rob and Caroline but I won't get into those details, "Think they're doing it on purpose?" Rinoa asked quietly.
"Who's doing what?" I replied, confused. "You mean the whole put-downs and bragging thing?"
"No, I mean the whole, sharing a room next to ours and screwing loud enough for Esthar to hear."
I had to laugh. I had to admit, I'd probably be very uncomfortable looking at them the next morning. "They might be. Think your grand-parents can hear them?"
"Does it matter?" She asked and put on a mocking imitation of her grandmother's voice, "They're tied in holy matrimony so it isn't violating the Ten Commandments."
"Are your mother's parents coming too?"
"I don't know anymore. Not everything went down too well at Stu's birthday so they might wait until the coast is clear to show up. Freaking Caraway family …" Funny, as she said those exact words, four pairs of feet were heard thundering down the hall, coming this way.
Soon, Mikey, Stu, Summer and Jeremy were in Rinoa's room and neither of us was sure quite why. The light was rudely flicked on, leaving me squinting at the sudden flash of brightness. "Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Rinoa demanded, sitting up in bed.
"We have an issue." Summer declared pointedly.
A smart look on her face, Rinoa replied nonchalantly, "You've got many issues and I'm sorry, but I'm not studying psychology."
"Oh very funny." The younger girl snorted and crossed her arms.
Mikey came and sat down at the edge of the bed to entertain a conversation with me, "Hey Squall, how're you doing?"
"Kind of tired but ok, how're you?"
"Annoyed with a slight touch of homicidal." He smirked and jerked his head in Jeremy and Summer's general direction. I chuckled back, amused.
Meanwhile, there was an on-going tennis match between Rinoa and Summer, "What the hell do you want?"
"Your stupid brothers won't share a pillow!" (Stu's "She's got three already!" went ignored)
"Well, why the hell are you coming to me?"
"That is such an immature question. An easily answered one too." Summer sneered.
Rinoa rolled her eyes and got out of the bed, "Immature, I'll show you freaking immature." She advanced threateningly towards Summer, "You and I are going to have a little heart-to-heart and believe me, it won't be a pleasant affair."
"Oh really?" Summer asked dryly.
"Yeah, first off, sweetheart, you don't charge into people's rooms at half past midnight to solve something as frivolous as lack of pillows regardless of whether they're having sex or not." The girl seemed a bit taken aback at the use of the 's' word, "Second of all, my brothers aren't stupid … they just want to throw you down the stairs hoping you'll break something." There was an 'Amen' from both Stu and Mikey, "And third of all, I don't give a flying fuck whether or not you're comfortable in my house because frankly, I don't give a flying fuck about you." That left Summer gaping at her, mouth wide open.
"I swear I'll tell mom and grand-ma!" Jeremy looked absolutely infuriated.
"Then you go right ahead." Rinoa snapped back, "Now get out of my room."
Summer glared defiantly at my girlfriend and I had to think of what the hell was going through her head. And it hit me but it was just too freaking late. She let out a high, piercing shriek that could have awoken the dead and demons. In less than ten minutes, the entire household was in the room (everyone was dressed by the way).
"What in the Devil's name is going on here?" Caraway roared, very angry.
"Nothing really special, just a couple of immature brats complaining about lack of pillows!" Rinoa exclaimed sarcastically, throwing her hands up in defeat, "Then screaming because I truthfully stated that I really don't give a crap!"
It was all really, really uncomfortable for me to just … sit there and watch. It was none of my business, I know but … what the hell was I supposed to do? Just sit in bed, and watch. Hm, dinner and a show. Woot!
"You're supposed to be the mature one and handle the situation, Rinoa." Grandma Caraway chided from an obscure corner of the room, "You're older, remember?"
"Yes, of course I remember! What I don't remember is you slipping me a twenty for baby-sitting the brats over Christmas. Last I checked it was my holiday too."
"A valid point!" Caraway declared, a little too cheerfully, "Everyone back to their rooms and let's just forget about this entire ordeal because I'm tired, and my wife is tired, and Rinoa looks indeed to be irritably tired, and so I think it would just be for the best if we returned to bed. Summer, I'm sorry but you'll just have to deal with the pillow situation for tonight until we can find some more tomorrow! There, handled like a mature adult, happy mother? Let's go!"
The crowd dissipated back to their rooms, Summer giving one last glare to Rinoa before leaving. Mikey and Stu were the last to leave, each mumbling an apology before passing through the doorframe. Rinoa let out a sigh of relief and shut off the light, gleefully prancing back into bed, "They're gone!" She squealed happily. I smiled in the darkness.
I looped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer to me, "You know, next Christmas, I say we ditch the family and rent a little cottage up in Shumi village where they'd have to take on a three hour flight to bother us. We could be alone, a nice fireplace and everything. It would be romantic, no?"
I had to admit, "That sounds enticingly inviting … especially the 'alone' part."
"Good, it's settled." She murmured and snuggled comfortably into my arms, "I love you."
"I love you too."
It wasn't late when I woke up the next morning, finding myself unable to fall back asleep. So, I got up slowly, making sure not to wake the sleeping beauty next to me. I snuck into the bathroom, took a shower, got dressed, brushed my teeth and crept down to the kitchen where the only one there was the General and his morning paper, "Good morning."
"Morning, Squall." He folded his newspaper and put it aside, "Coffee?" He motioned to the freshly brewed pot.
"No thanks." I sat down opposite of him at the table. I felt like I needed to speak to him or something but no words came to me.
Luckily, he made up for my lack of social skills, "If you've noticed, my daughter and I have made an alliance over the holiday season. That's normal, it happens every Christmas. A pact to survive with the least amount of wounds. As you can see, my family is not one you can easily contend with. I apologize for my mother's smart remarks about adultery and the likes. They must have made you uncomfortable."
"Ah … just a tad." Shit, was I blushing? In front of my father-in-law? Beautiful, just beautiful!
"Yeah, mother has a tendency to stick her nose in matters that are really none of her business. Of course, she's a strong believer in the laws of the bible which is fine however, she takes it a little too far … like once making Rinoa say the rosary four times because she had slipped out the word 'Christ'. It's just a bit obsessive. Consider yourself lucky that she hasn't shoved a crucifix in your face, screaming at you to 'Repent!'."
I gulped fearfully. Now an old hag would be after me with a crucifix, ordering me to repent my sins … lovely. "Wow, that's … yeah … uhm …" I was a little lost for words.
"Don't be afraid, there's people to put her in her place if she does … like me. This may be a little out of place to say but in all due honesty, I love my daughter very much and I would normally have subjected to hating you a long time ago for even laying a finger on her however, you're a good guy … I've got this feeling that I can trust you with her."
It was blunt … but it was to the point. I nodded my head nervously, "Thank you."
He smiled mischievously as if he had been planning this speech since day one, "Oh, and by the way merry Christmas."
Sabam: Sorry for my leave of
absence. I just didn't have the
inspiration to complete a chapter of Written In The Sky so here's #13. I hope to be able to continue and finish
this piece, if the gods allow it.
Please review!
And check out and review what might be my last piece ever on Fanfiction.Net …
Devil's Playground - Squall learns that in the city of Deling, there is no honor amongst thieves. Betrayed by someone he thought he loved, the vivacious Rinoa Heartilly, he breaks out of jail seeking revenge but he instead he finds a complot to kill the one he's looking for … will he join them, or will he risk his life trying to save the one whom he finds himself falling in love with again?