Chapter 8 – Remixing
Quistis' heels made sharp echoing clicks as she walked the halls of Garden. Her classes were over for the day and now she was actively looking for Seifer. Desperately hoping the arrogant young man could shed some light on Squall's recent and sudden change.
On a whim she headed for the elevators instead of the training center. After the short ride, she changed her course to the second floor observation deck. As luck would have it, the man who was occupying her thoughts was sitting against the wall, quietly reading a book.
She cleared her throat to get his attention. The blonde SeeD looked up and tried to cover up the small scowl that threatened to overwhelm his features at being interrupted in reading his Anne Rice novel.
"Instructor?"
"Hello, Seifer. I'm sorry to bother you but I have something that I need to ask of you."
"And what would that be, I doubt this was a social visit."
"Seifer please, let's not get into that."
"Get into what? The fact that you haven't spoken one civil word to me outside of hello and goodbye since my return. I'm not dense; in fact I'm highly perceptive to you and everyone else's opinion of me. The only one who seems unaffected by it is Squall."
"I'm sorry Seifer, I know this must be hard on you but people can't simply forget. Even if you were brainwashed."
Standing up as his anger peaked, he clutched his book tightly in his hands and shoved it violently into his pocket. "BULLSHIT! You don't know a thing about me. So don't you dare claim to know what it's like when you've never been there?"
The young women took an unconscious step backwards, at the rage held beneath her ex-student. "You're right. I don't know what it's like and frankly I never want to experience anything like it. Please except my apology. I over stepped my boundaries. In regard to my lack of pleasantness to you well, I can't really justify that. Though maybe I could take a step in rectifying it." A slight smile graced her lips as she remembered teaching the young man a little over two years ago. "Besides, you were one of my favorite students even if you did like to cause a lot of trouble for me."
Sighing softly to himself, he turned and grasped the edge of the railing. Willing himself to calm down, he faced the women before him once more. "Apology accepted. But I don't know about that favorite student thing. I bet you just say that to all the guys." Winking once at her, he continued. "I'm sorry to tell you this dear Instructor but I'm not looking for anyone at the moment. Maybe next time."
Quistis let out a small laugh, at Seifer's flirting. He doesn't even come close to Squall's advances. I guess I should be grateful for that. "Should I take it that you've found someone?"
"Maybe, I have to speak to a certain girl about some Owls in Timber if you catch my meaning."
"Say no more, I understand. I just hope you don't have issues with poor Angelo." Once again she began to chuckle lightly to herself, while Seifer erupted into a loud but short lived burst of laughter.
"That was all puberty boy, though I think he knew the only way to drive off Rinoa was to do something drastic."
"I suppose you're right. Speaking of Squall have you noticed anything weird about him lately?"
"Oh come on Quistis, you know as well as I do that you're going to have to get to the point if you expect anything from me."
"Yes well the point of which you speak is this, lately Squall has begun to act strangely. His behavior is erratic. The new hair color, the piercing and style of dress and the questionable content of the play. Well frankly we're all a bit worried."
"So you think puberty went off the deep end is that it?"
"As always Seifer you have such an eloquent way of phrasing things."
His usual self-confident smirk graced his lips at the Instructor's tight-lipped reply. "Thank you, I try."
"Seifer I'm serious, have you noticed anything?"
"What makes you think I would notice anything? Just because he's walking around all glammed up like that doesn't mean anything's wrong. Maybe he just felt like reinventing himself. I mean don't tell me a thought like that has never crossed your mind, after the war. Think about it. He was Squall Leonhart, angsty Ice Prince of Balamb. That doesn't leave much room for self-expression or personality. Now he's Squall Leonhart, angsty, playwright, rock/punk of Balamb."
Taking a deep breath he continued. "Did you ever think that maybe behind that shell was a slightly different person? And now you're getting to front seats to him stopping all the Shiva lover crap and being an actual person with feelings and emotions. Give the guy some time to straighten himself out. Most people start this from the time they're born till who knows Hyne ever. But Squally is different, he just started at eighteen."
"I never really thought about that being the case, but it does make sense. You're right Seifer, you do have wonderful analytical skills. I think you'd make an excellent tactician."
"To quote our friend. Whatever."
"See you later."
"Later Instructor." Thought I truly doubt it's any of that. Someone or something has set Squall off in a way that even I wasn't able to do. It's time to have a little talk with Bondage pants Squall and see what's going on in that head of his. Hm, but if I found a way to steal his thunder, well then that's be more up my alley. I think it's time for a sparring match.
Later that afternoon found the rivals dueling it out in the heart of the training center. This particular exercise was designed to make them work cooperatively as well against one another. Every time a beast showed up, they had to halt their attacks on one another and defeat it before continuing. After about an hour, many of the monsters stirred clear of the two, as the smell of death was heavy in the air. This provided Seifer with the opening he needed. By the foliage he could tell they were less than ten feet from the secret area. Going on the offensive he assaulted Squall with a barrage of quick blows that would keep him occupied. However, with Squall as a rival, things never work out quite as planned. Summoning his strength, he blocked the blow with the edge of the blade before turning it to its side and pulling back causing Seifer to lose his balance. Using the opening he just created, the dark haired turned the blade back to its normal position and began his attack.
Well I tried to do this nicely but since Leonhart preempted my move I'll just have to use plan B. Feinting to the side to avoid the attacked, he jumped backwards a bit and taunted him. Rushing forward, Squall prepared to deliver a mighty blow to his smirking adversary but the opportunity never came as he began to float several feet off the ground.
Seifer quickly grabbed the bondage straps and began to pull his captive balloon like victim into the secret area before he could cast Dispel.
Once they reached the room, Seifer let go of the straps to quickly close and lock the door. He didn't want any interruption. Turning back around, he quickly found himself a least a foot off the ground held up against the door by a very irate and nearly demonic looking Squall.
Okay, so I may be right about someone pushing his buttons, and I may have gone a bit too far.
Seifer put his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Hey put me down, I just wanted to talk to you and well I didn't want you to give me some crap about you having things to do blah blah blah."
The red and black haired SeeD mulled over the words before releasing his grip. His sometimes rival/friend knew he would do that and quickly regained his balance before hitting the floor. Squall just snorted in disgust at Seifer managing not to make a fool of himself.
"TALK!"
"You know you do a great impression of Fujin when she's angry." I really need to learn self-control… I'll be lucky if I get out of here without any injuries.
The other SeeD just turned away and sat down on the opposite corner of the room.
Brooding mode isn't good, I better get to the point. He took a seat across from Squall. "Look I usually don't really care what you do, but your friends are coming to me asking why you've gone all Dr. Jekal, Mr. Hyde on them."
"Is that all?"
"Look Squall, like I said. I'm not really worried about your mental health at this point though maybe I should. It seems to me that you're just as much in control of yourself as you've always been, but you're going out of your way to make them think otherwise."
Reaching forward, he grabbed the arm where the four piercing resided. "I know these can't be real or else you're on one heck of a pain killer after all the fighting we just did."
"Why should I tell you?"
Why shouldn't you? No that's not going to get me anywhere; it's a trust issue. He's calming down after that little stunt I pulled. Stunt, wait that may be it… "Never mind you don't have to tell me. I think I figured it out anyway."
"I doubt it."
"Oh yeah, well check this out. You damn near went off the wall when I pulled that little trick to get you in here. Luckily no one was around or I'm pretty sure people would have been laughing their asses off."
The change was instantaneous, he went from being passive to aggressive. His voice took on a dangerously low tone. "Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about."
Bull's eye! Like I haven't heart that line before. He doesn't like pranks. Think did some thing happen within in the last few weeks. Wait! Now I remember I came around the corner and I heard the gang laughing about something and Squall was standing there looking unnaturally clam, which meant he was pissed off beyond belief.
"You've got some hidden anger issues. You're trying to get back your friends for that thing they pulled a while back."
Squall didn't confirm of deny his suspicions.
"Okay, I'll take that as a yes."
"Whatever."
That's definitely a yes. Now to get on his good side.
"Well I don't know how far you've taken this all ready but I want to help. Causing a bit of trouble is certainly worth my time."
"I don't…fine. I need you're help with another play I'm doing anyway."
"What's so special about this play."
"It's the grand finale to this whole thing. When I'm done, and they're sitting in the audience at the height of their doubts about me, I'll confirm the facts all in one final swoop only to reveal the truth at the last possible second."
"So what do I have to do this time? More set building?"
"No, you're going to be in it. We're the stars."
"I want top billing."
"Whatever."