"So you made the date?" Quistis was practically breathing down Zell's neck when he walked into the room the next morning. she'd been sending him not so covert hints the entire day before about it until Zell thought his patience had been worn beyond repair. Fortunately for Quistis (okay, fortunately for him) he found it viciously renewed when he woke up the next day. Now that he was slightly more sensible, he realized none of the students would have any idea what she was hinting at. At the moment, he'd irrationally thought that somehow, someway, someone would guess what they were talking about. Which meant that they had some amazing talent as a TELEPATH.
Yeah, Zell knew how stupid he had been, but he had too much pride to admit it. Instead, he barely nodded an affirmative in her direction while he crossed the short distance from the classroom door to her desk. Class wasn't in session for another half an hour, but they met every morning to discuss student progress in the class. The next SeeD exam was coming up in a few weeks and Quistis liked to be prepared early.
He glanced around the classroom, biding himself some time. He still wished that they had a little more decoration in the room. Last time he'd brought it up, just like every time he brought it up, Quistis claimed it would add more distraction than the passing scenery out the windows already was. She had enough trouble as it was keeping the student's attention on her. He did agree with her, but he always wished that there was something more for him to look at.
As he feared, Quistis's eyes were waiting for his to finish their little circuit around the room. Shit, he knew what she was doing. She had learned how to sweat students out over the years. Before when she would have questioned, she'd learned a certain stare and waiting would just make someone positively ache to confess. That was nice, but he wasn't a student anymore. He was her assistant, already running some classes in hand to hand combat, he wouldn't fall to her tricks. But she was still staring at him with those cold, cold eyes of hers. Ice Queen, he thought to himself bitterly.
And he conceded. He knew she was waiting for him to include details, so he did. "Two weeks from friday, when we pass near Balamb again." If he'd been just a SeeD, he wouldn't have been allowed to leave so soon after a vacation, but instructors and, to a lesser extent, their assistants were allowed to leave more liberally. It was to do with the fact that most of the people in the Garden were their students or subordinates. And you weren't supposed to try and grow especially close to them, which could create intense feelings of cabin fever. So they were allowed to get away from it all when there was time. He'd make time...somehow.
"Oh?" She asked, arching both her eyebrows. She wished she had Zell's perfect single arch. She'd admired the way that he could use it to make the students squirm. Not all the time, but sometimes he positively made them want to protract themselves and confess everything they had ever done wrong. She had to give him that. Regardless, the one thing he really lacked was Quistis's quick wit, which had only grown sharper as her whip had in the past years. "And what time will you be meeting him? Where will you be going?"
"That's not really any of your business." He replied flatly, hiding his chagrin.
"I didn't imagine it was that serious." She meant that she wasn't aware that Zell wasn't planning on going anywhere after he met up with Seifer. She was teasing him.
He rolled his eyes. "It's not what you're thinking."
"Then what is it?" She asked calmly, resting her chin on one hand as if she were deeply interested in whatever he was about to say to her. In fact, she was. He considered deflecting by mentioning the reviews, but Quistis would only read deeper into that.
"It's just, uh, you know...two friends getting together. To, like, talk." He stammered. It was moments like this that reminded him still how little forethought he put into anything. He should've had himself prepared for this beforehand. If he had taken a second to really think about it, he would have realized that this was exactly what Quistis would do to him.
"To, like, talk." Her mimicry was not appreciated.
He scowled in her general direction and made a show of looking through his copies of the grading grids Quistis used. It was his not so subtle way of saying that he had taken enough from her today. He stopped at one of the problem students and read dutifully. Backtalking, doesn't take to instruction, incessant tardiness...oh shit. "oh shit" He echoed his thoughts vividly, putting the folder on his lap to bring his hands up over his face. Time. He'd forgotten to set a time. He was a fucking idiot.
Luckily for him, he had plenty to do to keep him busy. Like most things that he wasn't forced to confront that stressed him, Zell chose to ignore it and bury it in work. Seifer, as previously mentioned, had significantly less distractions and significantly more free time. SeeD and SeeD instructors were required to put more than full time into their roles. They trained, operated, instructed, and performed other duties as required. Seifer had blossomed in this environment. THe brooding came from the fact that he only worked forty-five hours a week. Then went home.
He cooked complicated meals and still worked out. He kept up with his training enough to defend himself, but didn't dare to make himself as deadly as he once was. He was still watched and couldn't show that he was still a threat. He cleaned his carpets on his hands and knees. He browsed catalogs and considered purchases months before he made them. He cleaned out his refrigerator for the third time.
He observed his face in the mirror for hours, wondering if his freckles from the sun were making him more or less attractive as they were more prominent than ever. He checked each individual section of hair to ensure that it was the appropriate length and trimmed it if necessary (hey, people's hair naturally grows at least slightly uneven). He made sure his finger nails were always clean, which was no mean feat for a machinist. He sewed the button on that shirt he'd meant to repair for almost a year.
He put the shelves up in his closet, he started doing extra pushups. The strain was going to kill him. He didn't know when Zell would come for him, but he was determined to be fully prepared to wait the entire day. He was steeling himself mentally for when he would come. He would not look hurt if he showed very late. If he showed up not at all, he'd never mention it again and never speak to Zell as long as he would live.
In fact, he wondered if it might be better if he didn't show up. Vengeance made Seifer try to improve his life. He could do it again, but it was only empty thinking. His heart still pounded so hard it threatened to spill out of his chest when he thought about him not showing up. No, he would show. It was the only thing he could tell himself.
Until then, he needed to unattach the stove and clean the wall in back of it, then re-attach it. He wanted to restain his kitchen cabinetry. H needed to buy himself some new shoes. He could iron his entire closet, in fact, he could...
The list went on endlessly.
In fact, it did him good. Working made Zell good as well. While Seifer flew down his endless list of projects, Zell was pushing himself harder than ever. Quistis could not contain her surprise when paperwork appeared on her desk not on time, but days before his deadline. He incessantly worked his problem students, sometimes forcing them to endure hours of extra training, which proved fruitful for a couple of them.
As the days inched closer, they prepared themselves as they would for a battle:
There were calls to friends and family, "Hey Ma...yeah, it's me. Hey, don't act so surprised. It's not like I never call you. Anyway, I was gonna stop in Balamb to visit some friends I couldn't find when I was there in a couple weeks. Yeah, I might be home really late or not, M'not sure. Yeah Ma, I'll call you at least when I get in the city. I'll be there until the early afternoon. Thanks Ma, I gotta jet. Love ya."
They checked their equipment. Seifer paid almost as much to the dry cleaner as to the tailor who'd done the alterations. He didn't want to admit that he was less muscular than he had been, but that denial would only be more obvious when his clothes hung off of him improperly. He had tried on everything in his closet until he'd found most of the right combination. It had taken him two days to find the last piece. He almost spent as much on this date as he had on his couch.
They took time to mentally prepare themselves. Seifer actually resorted to meditation the day before. He spent three hours trying to clear his mind. All he got was a pair of stiff legs and a headache. Zell decided it would be a good idea to put in an extra two hours of training. In the end, neither of them slept.
So it was only with trepidation that both woke the next day. One in his brightly lit room on the floating fortress he called home. The other in the apartment which was becoming his entire universe. While Zell saved stress because he knew when he would arrive, he still had to worry about how he was going to explain to Seifer that he had simply forgotten and just not found the courage to call back. Seifer just felt that he had nothing to lose except this. He felt like a teenager on the edge. Hyne, he might as well be a teenager on edge such were the emotions ranging in his nether regions.
Zell took a speedboat out to Balamb from Garden on the ocean. He usually liked to stand out on the deck and feel the wind, regardless of what it did to his hair. Today, he decided to save the serenity of his 'do. Instead of spiking it up, he'd done sort of a wave with his hair. He started by spiking it up, but simply pushing half the top over to the right side of his head before it set. He slicked the rest of his hair to his head. He wore black pants with a single, large chain hanging from one side to his knees before looping up to his pocket. Large black boots peaked out from under their wide legs. He wore a burgundy short sleeve dress shirt that resembled satin. It had the effect of outlining his muscles when it wisped against his body.
When the boat came to a stop, he leaped out into the cool Balamb air. Even in the war, he couldn't enter Balamb's harbor without being hit by a wave of nostalgia. Playing here with his friends when he was little. Watching the ships come and go when he was sad from the overlying hill. Waiting with his ma for a ship with family to come by. The air itself just said that it was home to him. He stood a moment to let the feeling absorb into him, to give him strength. In an hour, the sun would start to set and it would be absolutely beautiful. He had seen more breath-taking sunsets from the harbor than he could count.
There was a slight chill to the wind that would get worse as the night wore on. He hadn't thought to bring a jacket with him, so he assumed he would just suffer through it. He took one last look around and set off towards the direction of Seifer's house. Balamb being so small meant it was only a short time before he arrived in front of the unimpressive building.
He confirmed Seifer's apartment by the chip in the paint on the wall opposite the door. It was what he had concentrated on when Seifer had spoken to him so plainly while drunk. He would have recognized it five years down the road as the image of it and the situation would be burned in his mind for a long time yet. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door three times in a solid cadence.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
He waited a silent moment before hearing a muffled call "One second!" The voice sounded relatively neutral, but the 'second' was fully enunciated. With the ending consonant and all. That was unusual and he couldn't recall Seifer ever doing that before. Training in detecting subterfuge immediately was called to good use and he concluded that Seifer had probably rehearsed that one. He waited for a full three seconds before he started tapping his foot.
Inside, Seifer still sat on his bed where he had called when Zell had knocked on the door. He'd been sitting there for two hours and worked himself into a sort of hypnosis. He was so anticipating Zell's knock that even after preparing himself for two weeks as to what he'd say and do, he froze when the time came. He spent those valuable seconds taking deep breaths and calling to himself the old practice of acting like everything was fine. He could do this. He could do this. He could do this. Shit, he was breathing like an engine, he might as well be the one that could. Immediately, he stood up and threw his blazer over his shoulder and walked calmly over to the door.
He cleared his throat before opening the door and threw it wide. He smiled like he knew what he was waiting for and leaned against the doorframe. His white slacks fit him perfectly and contrasted wonderfully with the sleeveless black button-up he'd paid more money for than he would admit. He wore black, shiny dress shoes that matched the shiny fabric of the shirt. Even with the blazer thrown over his shoulder, he was a sight. Scar, smile, and bright eyes. "Thought you'd never show." He joked, but just like many jokes, it was half jest and half sincerity.
"Well, I did consider." Zell joked right back.
----------
Yeah, Yeah, I knew this took forever to get up, but what can I say? I've been really busy with work and I might be getting a 2nd job! Which means I'll be going from forty-five hours dedicated to work to about sixty hours a week. So you either need to be more patient OR more fawning with your reviews.
But seriously, thanks y'all again for your reviews! Like I say in just about every chapter ending, they really do make me want to update!
Stay in touch for the next chapter! This time, there is no escape! Zell and Seifer = romantic dinner for two or overemotional disaster waiting to happen! Oh, posh, you should know well enough by know that you can probably expect both!
Until Next time!
xo
miss Revolver
Yeah, Zell knew how stupid he had been, but he had too much pride to admit it. Instead, he barely nodded an affirmative in her direction while he crossed the short distance from the classroom door to her desk. Class wasn't in session for another half an hour, but they met every morning to discuss student progress in the class. The next SeeD exam was coming up in a few weeks and Quistis liked to be prepared early.
He glanced around the classroom, biding himself some time. He still wished that they had a little more decoration in the room. Last time he'd brought it up, just like every time he brought it up, Quistis claimed it would add more distraction than the passing scenery out the windows already was. She had enough trouble as it was keeping the student's attention on her. He did agree with her, but he always wished that there was something more for him to look at.
As he feared, Quistis's eyes were waiting for his to finish their little circuit around the room. Shit, he knew what she was doing. She had learned how to sweat students out over the years. Before when she would have questioned, she'd learned a certain stare and waiting would just make someone positively ache to confess. That was nice, but he wasn't a student anymore. He was her assistant, already running some classes in hand to hand combat, he wouldn't fall to her tricks. But she was still staring at him with those cold, cold eyes of hers. Ice Queen, he thought to himself bitterly.
And he conceded. He knew she was waiting for him to include details, so he did. "Two weeks from friday, when we pass near Balamb again." If he'd been just a SeeD, he wouldn't have been allowed to leave so soon after a vacation, but instructors and, to a lesser extent, their assistants were allowed to leave more liberally. It was to do with the fact that most of the people in the Garden were their students or subordinates. And you weren't supposed to try and grow especially close to them, which could create intense feelings of cabin fever. So they were allowed to get away from it all when there was time. He'd make time...somehow.
"Oh?" She asked, arching both her eyebrows. She wished she had Zell's perfect single arch. She'd admired the way that he could use it to make the students squirm. Not all the time, but sometimes he positively made them want to protract themselves and confess everything they had ever done wrong. She had to give him that. Regardless, the one thing he really lacked was Quistis's quick wit, which had only grown sharper as her whip had in the past years. "And what time will you be meeting him? Where will you be going?"
"That's not really any of your business." He replied flatly, hiding his chagrin.
"I didn't imagine it was that serious." She meant that she wasn't aware that Zell wasn't planning on going anywhere after he met up with Seifer. She was teasing him.
He rolled his eyes. "It's not what you're thinking."
"Then what is it?" She asked calmly, resting her chin on one hand as if she were deeply interested in whatever he was about to say to her. In fact, she was. He considered deflecting by mentioning the reviews, but Quistis would only read deeper into that.
"It's just, uh, you know...two friends getting together. To, like, talk." He stammered. It was moments like this that reminded him still how little forethought he put into anything. He should've had himself prepared for this beforehand. If he had taken a second to really think about it, he would have realized that this was exactly what Quistis would do to him.
"To, like, talk." Her mimicry was not appreciated.
He scowled in her general direction and made a show of looking through his copies of the grading grids Quistis used. It was his not so subtle way of saying that he had taken enough from her today. He stopped at one of the problem students and read dutifully. Backtalking, doesn't take to instruction, incessant tardiness...oh shit. "oh shit" He echoed his thoughts vividly, putting the folder on his lap to bring his hands up over his face. Time. He'd forgotten to set a time. He was a fucking idiot.
Luckily for him, he had plenty to do to keep him busy. Like most things that he wasn't forced to confront that stressed him, Zell chose to ignore it and bury it in work. Seifer, as previously mentioned, had significantly less distractions and significantly more free time. SeeD and SeeD instructors were required to put more than full time into their roles. They trained, operated, instructed, and performed other duties as required. Seifer had blossomed in this environment. THe brooding came from the fact that he only worked forty-five hours a week. Then went home.
He cooked complicated meals and still worked out. He kept up with his training enough to defend himself, but didn't dare to make himself as deadly as he once was. He was still watched and couldn't show that he was still a threat. He cleaned his carpets on his hands and knees. He browsed catalogs and considered purchases months before he made them. He cleaned out his refrigerator for the third time.
He observed his face in the mirror for hours, wondering if his freckles from the sun were making him more or less attractive as they were more prominent than ever. He checked each individual section of hair to ensure that it was the appropriate length and trimmed it if necessary (hey, people's hair naturally grows at least slightly uneven). He made sure his finger nails were always clean, which was no mean feat for a machinist. He sewed the button on that shirt he'd meant to repair for almost a year.
He put the shelves up in his closet, he started doing extra pushups. The strain was going to kill him. He didn't know when Zell would come for him, but he was determined to be fully prepared to wait the entire day. He was steeling himself mentally for when he would come. He would not look hurt if he showed very late. If he showed up not at all, he'd never mention it again and never speak to Zell as long as he would live.
In fact, he wondered if it might be better if he didn't show up. Vengeance made Seifer try to improve his life. He could do it again, but it was only empty thinking. His heart still pounded so hard it threatened to spill out of his chest when he thought about him not showing up. No, he would show. It was the only thing he could tell himself.
Until then, he needed to unattach the stove and clean the wall in back of it, then re-attach it. He wanted to restain his kitchen cabinetry. H needed to buy himself some new shoes. He could iron his entire closet, in fact, he could...
The list went on endlessly.
In fact, it did him good. Working made Zell good as well. While Seifer flew down his endless list of projects, Zell was pushing himself harder than ever. Quistis could not contain her surprise when paperwork appeared on her desk not on time, but days before his deadline. He incessantly worked his problem students, sometimes forcing them to endure hours of extra training, which proved fruitful for a couple of them.
As the days inched closer, they prepared themselves as they would for a battle:
There were calls to friends and family, "Hey Ma...yeah, it's me. Hey, don't act so surprised. It's not like I never call you. Anyway, I was gonna stop in Balamb to visit some friends I couldn't find when I was there in a couple weeks. Yeah, I might be home really late or not, M'not sure. Yeah Ma, I'll call you at least when I get in the city. I'll be there until the early afternoon. Thanks Ma, I gotta jet. Love ya."
They checked their equipment. Seifer paid almost as much to the dry cleaner as to the tailor who'd done the alterations. He didn't want to admit that he was less muscular than he had been, but that denial would only be more obvious when his clothes hung off of him improperly. He had tried on everything in his closet until he'd found most of the right combination. It had taken him two days to find the last piece. He almost spent as much on this date as he had on his couch.
They took time to mentally prepare themselves. Seifer actually resorted to meditation the day before. He spent three hours trying to clear his mind. All he got was a pair of stiff legs and a headache. Zell decided it would be a good idea to put in an extra two hours of training. In the end, neither of them slept.
So it was only with trepidation that both woke the next day. One in his brightly lit room on the floating fortress he called home. The other in the apartment which was becoming his entire universe. While Zell saved stress because he knew when he would arrive, he still had to worry about how he was going to explain to Seifer that he had simply forgotten and just not found the courage to call back. Seifer just felt that he had nothing to lose except this. He felt like a teenager on the edge. Hyne, he might as well be a teenager on edge such were the emotions ranging in his nether regions.
Zell took a speedboat out to Balamb from Garden on the ocean. He usually liked to stand out on the deck and feel the wind, regardless of what it did to his hair. Today, he decided to save the serenity of his 'do. Instead of spiking it up, he'd done sort of a wave with his hair. He started by spiking it up, but simply pushing half the top over to the right side of his head before it set. He slicked the rest of his hair to his head. He wore black pants with a single, large chain hanging from one side to his knees before looping up to his pocket. Large black boots peaked out from under their wide legs. He wore a burgundy short sleeve dress shirt that resembled satin. It had the effect of outlining his muscles when it wisped against his body.
When the boat came to a stop, he leaped out into the cool Balamb air. Even in the war, he couldn't enter Balamb's harbor without being hit by a wave of nostalgia. Playing here with his friends when he was little. Watching the ships come and go when he was sad from the overlying hill. Waiting with his ma for a ship with family to come by. The air itself just said that it was home to him. He stood a moment to let the feeling absorb into him, to give him strength. In an hour, the sun would start to set and it would be absolutely beautiful. He had seen more breath-taking sunsets from the harbor than he could count.
There was a slight chill to the wind that would get worse as the night wore on. He hadn't thought to bring a jacket with him, so he assumed he would just suffer through it. He took one last look around and set off towards the direction of Seifer's house. Balamb being so small meant it was only a short time before he arrived in front of the unimpressive building.
He confirmed Seifer's apartment by the chip in the paint on the wall opposite the door. It was what he had concentrated on when Seifer had spoken to him so plainly while drunk. He would have recognized it five years down the road as the image of it and the situation would be burned in his mind for a long time yet. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door three times in a solid cadence.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
He waited a silent moment before hearing a muffled call "One second!" The voice sounded relatively neutral, but the 'second' was fully enunciated. With the ending consonant and all. That was unusual and he couldn't recall Seifer ever doing that before. Training in detecting subterfuge immediately was called to good use and he concluded that Seifer had probably rehearsed that one. He waited for a full three seconds before he started tapping his foot.
Inside, Seifer still sat on his bed where he had called when Zell had knocked on the door. He'd been sitting there for two hours and worked himself into a sort of hypnosis. He was so anticipating Zell's knock that even after preparing himself for two weeks as to what he'd say and do, he froze when the time came. He spent those valuable seconds taking deep breaths and calling to himself the old practice of acting like everything was fine. He could do this. He could do this. He could do this. Shit, he was breathing like an engine, he might as well be the one that could. Immediately, he stood up and threw his blazer over his shoulder and walked calmly over to the door.
He cleared his throat before opening the door and threw it wide. He smiled like he knew what he was waiting for and leaned against the doorframe. His white slacks fit him perfectly and contrasted wonderfully with the sleeveless black button-up he'd paid more money for than he would admit. He wore black, shiny dress shoes that matched the shiny fabric of the shirt. Even with the blazer thrown over his shoulder, he was a sight. Scar, smile, and bright eyes. "Thought you'd never show." He joked, but just like many jokes, it was half jest and half sincerity.
"Well, I did consider." Zell joked right back.
----------
Yeah, Yeah, I knew this took forever to get up, but what can I say? I've been really busy with work and I might be getting a 2nd job! Which means I'll be going from forty-five hours dedicated to work to about sixty hours a week. So you either need to be more patient OR more fawning with your reviews.
But seriously, thanks y'all again for your reviews! Like I say in just about every chapter ending, they really do make me want to update!
Stay in touch for the next chapter! This time, there is no escape! Zell and Seifer = romantic dinner for two or overemotional disaster waiting to happen! Oh, posh, you should know well enough by know that you can probably expect both!
Until Next time!
xo
miss Revolver