Disclaimer: As usual I don't own the characters from Final Fantasy 8. Although Casey and Jay are mine.
Author note: Thankyou for the reviews. Much appreciated. This is only my second story so I hope I'm doing ok. I like this chapter. Casey rocks!
Chapter 5: Meeting the Staff
When they got back to the pub, Selphie dropped her shopping bags off in her bedroom and walked to the living room. As she opened the door, Seifer was sprawled across the sofa again in the same manner as the night before and he was talking to a muscular bald headed man who was sat on a seperate sofa. The man had a cheeky grin and was wearing a tight white vest top which was stark in contrast with his tanned skin. In fact he looked quite a bit like Jason Statham, with a tan. As he heard the door open, Seifer tilted his head backwards to look at Selphie. He smiled and motionned for her to come and join them.
As Selphie sat down in the gap between Seifers legs again, Seifer said, "Selphie, this is Jay, Jay this is Selphie."
Selphie smiled and leaned forward to shake Jay's hand, suprised at how gentle he was considerring his hands were twice the size of hers. "Pleased to meet you Jay."
"Likewise Miss Tilmitt. I've heard a lot about you." Jay said in a deep voice, as he released Selphie's hand and sat back in the sofa.
Selphie looked questionningly at Seifer for a second as she wondered what Seifer had told Jay.
Seifer smiled charmingly and said "Jay is my bouncer, he's been here since I opened the pub. He's my loyal and most trusted advisor-"
"Apart from me of course" A voice interrupted smoothly.
Selphie looked up as a tall, slim man entered the room. His arms were not quite as muscular as Seifers and Jay's but they were still muscular none the less. He had short black spiky hair and dark chocolate coloured eyes. As he noticed Selphie staring at him, the man turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow at her. He was definitely cute and had a mischevious look about him.The stubble on his chin that showed he had not shaved for a while completed his 'devil may care' look. He looked like a mixture between Laguna Loire and Orlando Bloom.
After a few seconds of Selphie staring in awe at the man, the man looking confused at Selphie, and Jay and Seifer looking at each other with amused faces, Selphie whispered "Laguna?"
The mans face creased into a grin. "Close little one, but no cigar. I'm Casey Loire. Laguna's kid brother."
Selphie blushed as Casey bent down to take her hand in his and kissed it. "I'm sorry, you look a lot like your brother."
Casey winked and said "Don't worry about it little one. I get that all the time. I'm not like Laguna though. Unlike him I know how to have fun."
Seifer suddenly cleared his throat. "Well, Casey is my barman. So behind the bar we now have me, Casey and Selphie, with Jay on the doors. That ok with everyone."
"Yep" Casey said as he threw himself down onto a spare chair, his baggy jeans, draping over the fabric.
Selphie and Jay nodded in agreement.
"Good, well now that everyone knows their roles, I'm gonna go make sure everything is sorted downstairs before we open up." Seifer said, sitting up, with his legs still on either side of Selphie.
Selphie smiled and stood up, so Seifer could get up. As she did, Jay also stood up and said "Ok, Seifer. I'll come and give you a hand."
Seifer nodded and turned to Selphie and Casey. "See you guys in a few minutes then. If you've got any questions Selph, I'm sure Case will answer them for you."
"Thanks Seifer." Selphie said as Seifer and Jay walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
"Now then..." Casey said as Selphie stood awkwardly, her arms folded across her chest. "Come over here so I can see whether you're dressed appropriately for work."
Selphie shrugged and walked closer to Casey as he remained seated on the chair.
"Hmm..." Casey said, as if in deep thought. "Give me a twirl."
Selphie blushed. "You're kidding right?"
Casey looked serious for a moment then burst out laughing. "Of course I'm kidding! I'm not that mean. So anyway, you're the infamous Little Miss Tilmitt."
"Hey! Less of the 'little' thankyou very much!" Selphie cried, resting her hands on her hips.
Casey raised an eyebrow, looking Selphie up and down, then stood up in front of her. Selphie gasped as Casey grasped her forearms, and looked down at her. He really did seem a lot taller up close. "Nah, you're still little. You'll be fine though. You seem to have a bit of attitude, and if anyone oversteps the mark, we'll pound their heads in for ya." Casey stated simply.
Selphie nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem. We haven't had a female working behind the bar before so it should be fun. How old are you anyway?" Casey asked, sitting on the large sofa and pulling Selphie down next to him.
"I'm nineteen. How old are you?" Selphie said, brushing a strand of red hair behind her ear.
Casey nodded. "Thats cool, I'm twenty."
"Nearly time to open guys. Selph do you wanna go put a little make up on?" Seifer came into the room.
"Ok. I'll be ready in five minutes." Selphie said standing up.
Selphie walked out of the living room and into her bedroom. She gasped with suprise as she saw a bunch of flowers on her bed. Picking up the card that came with them she read: ' To Selphie, Good luck tonight. You'll be fine and I'll be right there with you. Love Seifer.' Selphie smiled, picking up the flowers to sniff them and laid them back down on her bed. Turning round to find her make up, she jumped as she saw Seifer leant against the doorway.
Seifer smiled at her, his icy blue eyes staring into hers. "Told you I know how a woman likes to be treated." He came forward and picked up her make up. "Can I do it for you?" he asked, holding her lip stick.
Selphie nodded silently, her green eyes looking up at him. Seifer's eyes never left Selphie's face as he gently applied her lipstick. Each stroke he made with the lipstick had her imagining what it would be like if his lips would do that. It was incredibly romantic and she was stunned that a guy like Seifer would initiate an action such as this. But what did 'a guy like Seifer' actually mean? Seifer had never done anything wrong to her, in fact he had always been really nice to her when they used to live at the orphanage. He had always looked after her when no one was looking and explained things to her that Quistis, Squall and Irvine never had the patience to.
Flashback.
Selphie remembered the time she had asked why Star and Michael in the Lost Boys were touching their lips together and Seifer had explained that it was something that people did when they loved each other.
"So, if you love someone you should put your lips on theirs?" Mini Selphie asked, resting her chin on her hand as she looked up at Mini Seifer.
Mini Seifer had nodded and leaned back on his chair, clasping his hands behind his head. Seifer was twelve and Selphie was nine at this point. "Yep, thats right Selph, it's called a kiss."
"So have you ever kissed anyone Seify?" Selphie asked innocently, her green eyes looking up at him.
Seifer opened his mouth for a second, hesitated then shook his head slowly as he leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. "No, I haven't. Don't tell Squall and Irvine though. I've told them that I kissed a girl at school."
Selphie nodded and patted Seifers hand. "I won't tell Seifer. As long as you don't tell anyone that I didn't understand kissing. It's just that I've never been kissed before by anyone so I've never been loved by anyone, otherwise they would have kissed me." She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head on her knees as she tried to fight back her tears.
Seifer understood what she was going through as he didn't think he had been loved before and he had never been kissed before either. He did know that he loved Selphie though, although he was too young to do anything about it, even if he did know what he could do, which he didn't. "It's ok Selph. Please don't cry."
Selphie looked up sharply, her green eyes narrowing, showing a film of tears threatening to spill at any second. "I'm not crying." she pouted.
Seifer shook his head smiling and rested a hand on one of Selphies tiny shoulders. As he watched her fight the tears, he was filled with a need to protect this girl from anything that tried to do her any harm. He was still a boy, but he loved Selphie and when she was old enough to understand that they needed each other, then he would tell her. In the mean time though he would protect her and make sure that no one hurt her, especially Irvine, who even at the age of twelve loved to torment Selphie and make her cry. He had been filled with a desire to beat the tar out of Irvine whenever he saw him talk to Selphie in his condescending way, and that feeling had stayed with him through his childhood and was still with him in his manhood. Selphie was the only one out of the orphanage gang that listened to him and made him feel as if he belonged, without expecting anything in return. "It's okay to cry you know, but you don't have to. You are loved Selphie."
Selphie looked confused. "Really?" she screwed her hands into tight little fists and rubbed her eyes. A common gesture that showed she was getting sleepy. It was midnight, and although Seifer was used to staying up till all hours of the morning as he had trouble sleeping, he knew that Selphie was younger and needed her sleep.
"Yea. I love you." Seifer nodded then added "Like a sister," as he didn't want to frighten her.
Selphie thought for a moment then said, "Why don't you ever kiss me then?"
"Well, I'm not sure I know how. It wouldn't be like kissing in the movies though as they kiss like boyfriend and girlfriend." Seifer explained.
"Oooh," Selphie sighed, as she thought about the kisses she had seen in movies. She was a hopeless romantic even at that age, she was just too young to understand it or do anything about it. "So, you would kiss me like a brother kisses his sister?"
Seifer nodded. "Yea, if I was to kiss you, it would be like that. Just a quick kiss on the lips or cheek."
"Would you do that for me?" Selphie asked shyly, wringing her hands in her lap as she crossed her legs.
"If you want me to I will." Seifer said, fidgeting a little, nervously.
Selphie tilted her head to one side, thinking for a second then nodded firmly. "Yes please. I would like you to kiss me Seifer. I want my first kiss to be from you."
Seifer raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Why me?" He wasn't even sure why he was asking this question, but he felt he needed to know.
Selphie grinned. "Because I trust you Seify. You're my big brother!"
Seifer smiled and sighed in relief as he realised that Selphie had no idea how much turmoil his emotions were in. He didn't understand why he liked Selphie, he just knew that he felt comfortable with her, and he also knew in wisdom beyond his years that whatever feelings he had for the little red haired girl, would probably grow over the years, which they did. "Ok Selph. I'll kiss you. Are you ready?" He asked, his voice shaking a little.
Selphie shuffled to get herself comfortable, then sat up straight, not bothering in her childish innocence to close her eyes. "Yep. Kiss me Seify." she stated simply and pursed her lips in a big pout, waiting for him.
Seifer looked around for a moment, checking that no one was around, especially Squall, Quistis and Irvine. Squall would have kicked the crap out of him, even at that age as he was just as protective of Selphie as Seifer was, although his feelings for Selphie were strictly that of an older brother. Quistis would have scratched Selphie's eyes out as she fancied Seifer and had been hounding him for a while now, chasing him round the garden trying to kiss him, but luckily for Seifer, he could out run her. Irvine would have told Matron as even though he was horrible to Selphie, he considered her to be his and that she wasn't allowed to like anyone but him. Satisfied that there was no one around, Seifer rested both of his hands on Selphie's small shoulders and leaned down, resting his lips softly on hers. He had also kept his eyes open and looked into her green ones as their lips joined. After about three seconds, Selphie grinned, followed by Seifer and they broke apart, his hands still on her shoulders.
"Well?" Seifer asked, smiling at her.
Selphie giggled. "It was weird." She scrunched her pretty face up a bit and Seifers heart fell, but then she blushed and said. "But I liked it. Thankyou Seify!" She knelt up and threw her arms round his neck in a hug.
Seifer blushed profusely and laughed, hugging Selphie back. "You're welcome. Thankyou too. But Selph..." he hesitated.
"Don't worry Seify." Selphie said, standing up, pulling her yellow dress down. "I won't tell anyone. See ya later bro." She grinned and waved, skipping out of the room and shutting the door behind her.
Seifer chuckled and nodded to himself.She understood him so well.
End of Flashback.
As he finished applying the lipstick he put the lid on it and put it down carefully on her bed. Selphie was touched by the way he carefully handled her things, even though it was him who had paid for them. She smiled affectionately, her green eyes looking up at him. Seifer noticed Selphie watching him and turned back to face her. He gently raised a hand and rested it beneath her chin, tilting her head so she was looking directly up at him. Selphie held her breath as Seifer leaned down slowly towards her-