Chapter 10: Exponential Love, Part II
Quistis | July 10
Seifer's question was making her tingle with gratification.
He held the shop door open for her with a teasing grin. "I've been meaning to come here again. You said you wanted to see my tattoo, so here's your chance."
Quistis nodded and followed him inside.
The parlor was a smoky impression of jewel tones, silk damask, and framed photographs of patrons showing off their tattooed body parts.
"Hello!" greeted a young woman. Her face was partially hidden beneath a stacked bob cut and she sported a wicked-looking steampunk owl on her forearm.
"Hey," said Seifer.
"Welcome back! It's been a good year and a half since I've seen you."
Seifer smiled. "You remember me?"
"I remember every face that walks through this door," she stated proudly. "Are you sweethearts here for a couples tattoo?"
"Just me," he said.
Quistis appreciated how Seifer encouraged her to take risks and express herself. She knew he would never force her into something she didn't want or make her feel displaced within her personal ethos.
"Fabulous!" The tattoo artist motioned to her workstation. "I just need to finish sterilizing in the back room, but I'll be with you as soon as possible."
"Take your time."
Quistis settled onto a chaise in the waiting area. The idea of a tattoo was becoming increasingly attractive to her. Perhaps she really was going to walk out of here with one. She would keep her heart open and wait for that special moment of inspiration.
In the next moment, she was mildly stunned when Seifer took off his shirt.
Before, his body had slunk around in her mental periphery. Now, she couldn't look away from the beautiful display of symmetry and virility standing before her. His was a physique that put any doubts about his strength to rest. He was truly something to behold—no, something to experience. How she longed to experience him in all of her weak-kneed affection.
Seifer perched on the arm of the chaise to show her the text marking his upper back.
Quistis immediately nerded out. "This is so neat! Did you know that Ancient Balambian is the only alphabet in the world that makes use of logographs? What a shame that it's now a dead language!"
He gave a low chuckle. "Is there any academic subject you don't excel in, Quistis?"
"Wait, hold still," she said excitedly. "Let me see if I remember enough to translate this." She pressed a delicate finger upon the first symbol and paused to think. "This one says…'last' or 'final.'" She slid her finger to the next. "I don't know about this middle one here." She tapped the end character with glee. "And if I'm not mistaken, this one stands for 'life' or 'existence.'"
"Your intelligence is seriously turning me on right now."
Quistis bit back a smile and drummed her fingers on his back. "How did I do?"
"You got 'em right." He grinned with satisfaction. "The middle character means 'night' and the full proverb is 'the final night of my existence.'"
"What does it refer to?"
He fluidly shrugged back into his shirt and scooted in next to her. "Dying to my old self. Turning over a new leaf. You get the gist. I got this when I made the decision to come back to Garden."
"What a grand way to commemorate a turning point in your life," said Quistis. "I love the lyrical quality of the words. So what are you getting this time?"
"I'd like for you to decide." Seifer smiled confidently, fingers latching onto hers. "After all, this is another momentous day in my life."
She rubbed the fleshy parts between his fingers with a kind of lazy euphoria. "Sounds like a huge decision. Are you sure that you want me to make it for you?"
"Yes."
Her special moment of inspiration had arrived. She knew from the way her heart started fluttering uncontrollably.
"I have an idea," she began.
"Oh?" Mischief played across Seifer's visage. "It appears that my lady knows what she wants."
"How would you like to call me your Queen instead?" she asked tentatively.
His gaze deepened with desire. "Go on."
"You might think it's awfully sentimental."
"There's no such thing as 'sentimental' between you and me," he assured her.
Quistis smiled. "Do you remember when we played Trabian Grat Screw with Selphie and Nida?"
"I remember it like it was yesterday."
"When the final game was down to the two of us," she continued.
He nodded. "You drew a Queen and I drew a King."
"Yes! What if…" She lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers. "What if we got small letters in the style of playing cards? 'Q' for me and 'K' for you. We could add matching symbols—maybe simple outlines of crowns or hearts. Someplace subtle but still visible, like the outer edge of the palm on the side of the thumb?"
Seifer was ecstatic. "Is this a dream? Pinch me, please."
She looked at him with fondness. "This is real life. You make my world a little wild, and I think I love it."
"And you repeatedly melt me into a puddle of emotions."
They decided on crowns instead of hearts. The tattoo artist produced a perfect stencil of their creative vision and the resulting design looked striking in its elegant minimalism. The woman's work was so skilled and speedy that Quistis was hardly bothered by the stinging of the needle or the buzzing of the tattoo gun.
They left the parlor just in time to go back to the theater, each with a thumb wrapped securely in an aftercare bandage. Quistis was more than pleased with the way the ink had turned out, and she could tell that Seifer was too.
Several minutes into the movie he poked her and whispered, "Hey. Does this—" (he waved a hand at the screen) "—seem kinda off to you?"
"Huh," she said quizzically. Seifer was right: so far, the film was devoid of good-looking leads, diabolical villains, and the type of romantic heroism that one would expect to see from their selected genre.
"Um…" He observed the seats around them and suddenly grinned. "I think this is the wrong screen."
Quistis followed his gaze and saw that the audience was filled with pre-teens and their guardians.
The next scene erupted in a flash of light as the silhouette of a CGI creature slowly emerged from a white-hot supernova. The young theatergoers began singing along to a heavy metal rendition of the PuPu theme song as the bulbous turquoise alien leapt from the cosmos and landed on earth with dynamite-like force.
Seifer doubled up with laughter. Quistis was overcome with giggles.
"How did we not notice the mix-up!?" she panted out, still giggling. "I can't believe there are so many kids who're out late at night—well, early morning, I guess."
"Kids these days are living on the edge," he chuckled, wiping tears from his eyes. "And it's summer vacation. A parent's gotta find ways to entertain."
"It's not too late to move to the right room." She snuggled closer to him. "Although we've settled in pretty cozily here, don't you think?"
Seifer twined an arm around her. "PuPu it is."
The family flick was rather entertaining, and they critiqued its many aspects with enthusiasm during the cab ride home. Seifer theorized the presence of dark subliminal messages hiding in every other scene. Quistis opined that PuPu's character design was poorly rendered (she knew what he actually looked like, having encountered him in real life).
The lovers conversed sotto voce as they walked back to the dorms in the wee hours of the morning. Their saga-length First Date was drawing to its finale.
"Let's make our debut today."
Quistis hummed with pleasure. "Is that what normal couples do? I'm asking because I genuinely don't know the answer."
"We're not normal," Seifer pointed out. "We're exceptional."
"How ever will we deal with the pressures of life in the public eye?" she said dramatically.
He snorted. "I know you get a thrill out of being with me! Especially in public."
"You're getting awfully good at reading me," she said, bumping his hip.
"What I'm hearing you say is that I've leveled up." He smirked and bumped her back.
"You have," she admitted. "So what about this debut?"
Seifer grinned. "Let's meet for breakfast at 0930."
"Oh!" Quistis understood what he was trying to say. "We'll walk in holding hands, so that everyone can see?"
"Exactly."
"Don't you want to sleep in?" she asked him.
"Sleeping in will have to wait. I want the world to know about us first." He spoke these words as if he was about to take on his life's greatest undertaking.
Quistis raised herself on tippy toes and gave him an innocent peck. "Goodnight, my King."
Seifer gazed at her lovingly. "Goodnight, my Queen."
She saw him waiting for her outside of the cafeteria. The early morning rays struck him in a way that made her breath snag.
Here she was, crossing the threshold from insecure girl to confident woman, from someone who used to hold back in more ways than one to someone who now entered the fray in earnest. The emotional precipice she had been standing before was not so terrifying once she had taken the jump, for he had been there to catch her in all of her fragility—both real and imagined.
Seifer gave a self-assured grin. "Ready, Quisty?"
"Ready," replied Quistis. She was a tad nervous, there was no denying that. But she was quickly learning that being in a relationship required a certain degree of surrender on her part.
Her hand slipped into his and she eased into a comfortable stride alongside him.
The cafeteria quieted in reverence at their entry.
Males took turns goggling at Quistis and glaring at Seifer. Females fake-swooned in each others' arms.
And then a medley of wolf whistles, frenzied whispers, delighted giggles, and someone's choking sobs rippled through the cafeteria like aural graffiti.
Everyone's eyes followed the couple as they picked up their food and took a seat at their usual table.
"Seifer." Xu's tone turned decidedly militant as she stared him down. "If you ever prove yourself to be a carcinogen to Quistis, then I'll—"
"Carcinogen?" Seifer laughed. "Wow, Xu. Your diss hits hard."
"It's too early for big words," complained Zell as he chomped on a scone.
"C'mon, Xu," said Irvine. "Can't you see how happy Quisty is?" He placed a hand on Xu's back, earning him a mild glower from Nida.
Xu held up a hand. "Not finished with my obligatory intimidation tactics here. I was saying that—"
"—you'll personally jettison me outta Garden if I screw up this relationship," said Seifer. "Yes, we're all aware of what an incredible friend you are to Quistis and the lengths you'll go to ensure her happiness and well-being, for which I am most grateful."
Xu regarded him with light suspicion. "Are you complimenting me?"
"Maybe." Seifer grinned. "Probably."
"Well." A smile crept onto Xu's face. "Thanks, then."
"Anytime." He passed her a small envelope. "The card and receipts are inside."
Rinoa squeezed Quistis' shoulder supportively. "Is this your official first day as a couple?"
"Technically, it was yesterday," said Quistis.
"You guys are perfect together!" exclaimed Avery.
Quistis broke out into a grin. "Thank you."
"I knew it all along!" claimed Zell, puffing up his chest as if he had been privy to some awesome secret.
"So did I," said Irvine. "You two darlings weren't even trying to hide it." He gesticulated to Seifer and Quistis with a cocksure grin.
Nida crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I honestly thought you guys were together this whole time?"
"Hmm," said Rinoa. "They've given off that vibe for a while, yeah?"
Squall cleared his throat. "Congratulations," he offered candidly. Quistis did not fail to notice the warmth that flickered briefly in Squall's eyes and the way that Seifer respectfully acknowledged the one-word speech with a nod.
"So what was the clinching moment for you?" asked Irvine to both of them.
Seifer stopped peeling his muffin wrapper and scowled at him. "What is this, an interrogation?"
"It's actually more of an open forum," said Irvine with a look of pure entertainment on his face.
Rinoa gave Seifer an exaggerated wink. "It was the day of the photoshoot, wasn't it?"
"I'm missing important details here," said Nida.
"I'll show you the photo after breakfast," Xu told him.
"I think it was during Training Week," said Zell seriously. "When Seifer got sick and Quisty took care of him."
Squall glanced curiously at Quistis. The latter continued to chew on her granola with faint amusement.
"I'm with you on that one," agreed Irvine.
"You knew about that too, Irvine?" said Zell.
Irvine grinned shrewdly. "I have my ways of finding things out. And what about the night of the after party?" He elbowed Seifer energetically. "Things got pretty sultry between you two."
Sultry? mouthed Xu to Quistis.
Squall slowly lifted a finger and pointed it at Quistis' hand. "Is that…a tattoo?"
Zell froze mid-bite.
"No way!" Irvine burst out.
Xu was stupefied. "I thought Seifer was joking about that!?"
Quistis smiled demurely and stretched out her hand as if to model jewelry. Seifer positioned his hand next to hers so that their friends could see how the designs complemented each other.
Avery gave a little gasp.
Rinoa squealed in delight. "Oh my gosh, matching tattoos! That is just too darn cute!"
"Hot damn!" said Zell. "Quisty's turning into a major rebel. What's next, high-speed motorcycle chases!?"
"It's true that I'm trying to get my motorcycle license," confirmed Seifer, coiling an arm around Quistis. She molded into his body with a grin that she was certain looked dopey—a telltale sign of her happiness, the kind that surged through her from head to toe.
Irvine chortled. "Y'all, what about Seifer? He's turned mushy for his lady. Now this is a man who's in touch with his feelings. Respect!"
The good-natured teasing went on for some time. Quistis somehow managed to eat her meal without choking from the constant stream of comments, questions, and Irvine's obnoxious but well-meaning innuendos. Seifer was soaking up the attention like a cat basking in the sun. She was pleasantly surprised when a couple of the more outspoken Trepies walked up to their table and sincerely wished them well.
Quistis never could have predicted the level of interest that people were showing in the relationship. It was different from her Instructor-era fame, when she had felt like the whole future hinged on her daily successes and failures. This time, Quistis felt an inexplicable sense of closeness from those around her. They were more involved in her life, but it wasn't the uncomfortable feeling of being put under a magnifying glass. People were truly rooting for her and Seifer. Perhaps it was the combination of him and her that fascinated everyone, or maybe it was simply Seifer and she was secondary. Whatever the actual reasons were, Quistis wasn't minding the attention. Not anymore.
When the two left the cafeteria, they ran smack into Raijin and Fujin. The latter was holding a sleeping puppy in her arms.
"Seifer!" Raijin greeted him with a thump on the back. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing!?"
Seifer grinned. "You called it."
"You know I did!" said Raijin, laughing with pleasure. He turned to Quistis and gave her an equally forceful thump, causing her to stagger into Seifer. "Welcome to the family, Quistis! We'll be sure to take real good care of ya."
"Thanks, Raijin. I'm honored!"
Fujin was wearing one of her rare grins. "SEIFTIS FOREVER!"
Quistis mirrored her grin. "I appreciate your support, Fujin. I heard you're the one who found the puppies in the basement?
Fujin nodded.
"Congratulations on becoming a pet parent."
"THANKS." The puppy was now snoring in an adorably frazzled manner. "STILL DECIDING NAME," she added.
Seifer sniggered. "I'd love to see Squall's reaction when he finds out half of Garden's got their own furry friend."
"Heh heh. Squall can't do much at this point, ya know?"
While the guys continued chatting, Fujin used a free hand to take out a piece of paper from her pocket. She smoothed out the wrinkled edges on her pant leg and presented it to Quistis. It appeared to be some kind of personal note.
"READ," she requested.
Quistis promptly unfolded the note to discover Fujin's graceful penmanship gliding across the paper:
Dear Quistis,
I'm so happy that you've chosen Seifer.
You know that he's been through a lot. He's not always easy, reasonable, or considerate. Sometimes he'll annoy you so much that you'll want to [insert preferred method of attack] him.
But he's stupidly honest, insanely loyal, and passionate to no end. You amplify his best qualities just by being around him. Just by being you.
I can tell that Seifer really loves you. Thank you for loving him too, Quistis.
Your Friend,
Fujin
P.S. Would you like to have tea with me sometime?
Quistis was beyond touched. She pressed the letter to her chest. Maybe she would even frame it. She wanted to give a long and meaningful response to Fujin but couldn't summon the words on the spot. Besides, the little canine had just woken up and Fujin was currently distracted by its loud yipping. Quistis carefully folded the piece of paper and tucked it into her pocket. She would definitely visit Fujin soon with some tea party supplies.
No sooner had they parted ways with Fujin and Raijin than they saw Selphie racing toward them.
She skidded to a halt and rested her hands on her knees for a moment. "Quisty! Seifer!"
"Hi, Selphie. Is something wrong?" asked Quistis, observing her with concern.
"I just heard the news from Irvy!" she exclaimed, straightening up. "I'm super happy for you, but I also owe an apology to you both."
Seifer's interest was stirred. "An apology? For what?"
Selphie grinned sheepishly. "I literally just found out about the existence of your Seiftis fan site." She arched her arms over her head in the shape of a heart.
"I'd almost forgotten about that," said Quistis, laughing. "What about it?"
"Um…I'm sure you've been wondering all this time who took the photo. Well, it was me." She anxiously tee-hee'd. "When Rinoa and I ran ahead of you guys to give you some alone time—" (she winked at Seifer) "—I turned around on a whim and saw the most perfect composition. I just had to take a picture then!"
Seifer was getting a kick out of Selphie's disclosure. "Apparently all of Garden knew about our relationship before it even existed."
"So you created the site?" said Quistis.
"Not exactly," admitted Selphie. "I wasn't planning on doing anything with the photo, honest! I thought I uploaded it to my personal folder but I must've dropped it into Garden's shared drive by accident."
Seifer grinned. "And then someone got their hands on it."
"And the rest is history," finished Quistis.
"That's pretty much what happened!" said Selphie with a frown. "It was my fault for not being more careful." She hung her head.
"No apologies necessary," said Quistis kindly. "If you think about it, the photo is what led us to each other."
Selphie looked relieved. "Really? Well, I still feel kinda bad about the whole thing but I'm glad nothing too crazy happened. By the way, you guys have over 1,000 pageviews now. Keep up the good work, woohoo! Oh, and one more thing." She pulled an ivory envelope out of her bag and waved it excitedly in the air. "It turns out that the guy who won the Garden Festival raffle wasn't interested in the first place prize, so we ran it again and this time Seifer won!" Selphie pushed the envelope into his hands. "Gotta run off to a meeting now, plus I wouldn't want to get in the way of all your hot-and-heavy staring. See ya!"
They watched, nonplussed, as Selphie zipped away to her next appointment.
"Hot-and-heavy staring, huh?" Seifer removed the contents of the envelope to reveal ornate card stock framed with dried baby's breath. "How would you like to take said staring all the way to Winhill Country Inn?"
Quistis beamed. "I'd be happy to be your staring partner. They say Winhill is loveliest in the autumn."
"It's a date, then. It would have to be autumn anyway 'cause I'm all out of vacation hours for now."
"In the meantime…" Quistis tilted her head. "There's another place I'm eager to visit."
"Your wish is my command."
"Do you feel like going to Matron's house?"
"Uh, hell yes."
"Rinoa mentioned that Centra's on the calendar for next month. We could stop by when we're off duty."
"Sweet. By the way, where are we headed right now?"
It was then that Quistis realized they were aimlessly walking around Garden's main ring.
"Oh," she laughed. "Let's go to my room."
"Damn. This day keeps getting better and better."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't get any funny ideas. My purpose in bringing you there is to give you a gift."
He was genuinely surprised. "You got me something?"
"Yes. I bought it for you while I was on my last mission, so I've been meaning to give it to you for a while."
"In that case, your gift is gonna be late," said Seifer.
Quistis shook her head. "Don't get me anything in return."
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do," he retorted.
"You haven't even seen it yet." She smiled. "What if it's not what you're expecting?"
"Don't worry, I know it'll be amazing." He pulled her in close for a hug, seemingly to placate her…
…and slid a hand into her pocket to pluck out Fujin's letter.
"Seifer!" she protested, trying to grab it back from him.
He kept it out of Quistis' reach with infuriating ease, grinning like a rascal. "I want to know what made you all moony. Fu never said it was for your eyes only, right?"
She lunged at him this time.
It was just the right amount of force with just the right speed at just the right angle that Seifer lost his balance and Quistis' weight fell onto him and the ledge happened to be right behind them and before they could so much as shout in surprise they tumbled awkwardly over the barrier and plunged into the moat with a thunderous splash.
When Quistis surfaced, the world looked hazy.
Seifer swam over to her. "Quistis! You okay?"
She coughed up a bit of water through her nose. "I'm fine! Just missing my glasses."
Without another word he dove underwater.
Quistis stayed in place, paddling and floating and enjoying the pleasant sensation of cool water on her skin despite the pounds of clothing weighing her down.
Seifer came up less than a minute later, triumphantly grasping the lost item.
"No injuries, right?" asked Quistis as she put on her glasses.
"None," he said with a grin.
"Oh my goodness!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Will our tattoos be okay?"
"We should be fine as long as we don't let 'em soak for too long. How do we get out of here?"
"You don't know either?"
"No idea. You'd think there would be a giant ladder or something." Seifer squinted at something in the distance. "Time to move!" He pointed urgently over her shoulder and they paddled back to the side of the ledge from which they had fallen.
"Why are we hiding?" whispered Quistis.
"Aki's out on his rounds," Seifer whispered back.
"Oh, look." She pointed to an indistinct set of steps built into the ledge, the kind which someone would have to stare closely at to notice its presence. Unhelpfully, the steps didn't even go all the way up.
They grabbed onto the indents for a rest.
He grimaced. "Ugh. Who designed this moat?"
Quistis delicately adjusted her glasses. "And another thing. I never realized how deep the water goes!"
"Yeah, no big deal if people drown trying to figure out how to escape." Seifer looked at her earnestly. "Are you mad at me?"
'He's not always easy, reasonable, or considerate.'
Quistis tried to look affronted, which was somewhat hard to pull off in her bedraggled state.
'Sometimes he'll annoy you so much that you'll want to [insert preferred method of attack] him.'
"I would've shown you the letter but you chose to be all sneaky about it," she said.
'But he's stupidly honest, insanely loyal, and passionate to no end.'
"I was an ass," he apologized. "Tell me how to make it up to you."
'You amplify his best qualities just by being around him. Just by being you.'
Fujin's insights had been humorously dead-on. Laughter was threatening to spill out at this realization. Quistis held a hand to her mouth.
Seifer's eyes widened in misunderstanding.
She couldn't hold back her laugh. The sound of it was full-bodied and glorious. "I…I just can't stay mad at you," she gasped out.
He looked momentarily bewildered, then draped an arm around Quistis and kissed her forehead. She nestled her head into the crook of his neck and rested one hand on his chest.
"You think Aki's gone yet?" Seifer mumbled into her hair.
She smiled into his chest. "I say we wait a bit longer."
Quistis didn't bother to clean up her room. For one thing, it was already spick-and-span. But more importantly, she had found a sense of freedom in presenting herself as is, warts and all. This was the stuff of real intimacy, she decided. And she couldn't wait to embark on this new adventure with Seifer.
She had just come out of a quick shower (her third wash in the last 24 hours—what an eventful weekend this was turning out to be!) and was about to get her blow dryer going when the sonorous pealing of bells exploded over the intercom. It was the sound communicating to all that Garden would soon become mobile. She glanced at the digital marquee above her doorframe and saw the next destination flashing in red block letters: DEPARTING FOR CENTRA AT 1400.
That was strange. Garden was supposed to remain docked by Deling City for at least another week. Had urgent circumstances led to a change in the schedule?
As the bells clanged repeatedly, someone knocked on her door.
Quistis greeted her visitor with a welcoming smile.
Seifer smiled back. "Have I told you how ravishing you look with wet hair?"
"You could stand to mention it more," she replied without missing a beat. "Please, come in."
He glimpsed her bare feet. "You want me to take off my shoes?"
"That would be nice." Quistis gestured to her bed. "No other seating, unfortunately. Make yourself comfortable."
Seifer loosened his laces just enough to be able to kick off his boots. "How do you use your desk, then?"
Quistis ran a hand through her tangled hair. "I used to have the standard issue chair that's in all of the dorms, but it reached the end of its lifespan a few days ago."
"Lemme guess. It's the same one you've had since you first came to Garden." He took a seat on the edge of the mattress.
She laughed. "Am I that predictable?"
"Yes and no."
Quistis sat next to him. "If that was a 'yes' scenario, what would be a 'no' scenario?"
Seifer gave her a meaningful look. "When I was sick and you sang to me."
She turned scarlet in three seconds flat. "Ah…you weren't asleep then."
"Nope." He gently untangled a strand of hair for her. "And I'm glad I wasn't."
Quistis collapsed onto the bed in a spell of silent embarrassment. She felt Seifer capitalize on her horizontal state by inching toward her.
"I wouldn't mind if you did it again," he sighed.
She flipped onto her side so that she was facing him. His head settled upon the pillow and found her hand.
"Did you recognize the song?" she asked. "One of Matron's old lullabies."
"Yeah. Not at first, but I eventually remembered. It was the one she'd save for stormy nights."
"Yes! Not even you were immune to those."
"I beg to differ."
"Thunder, lightning, the occasional power outage. Are you saying those things didn't scare you even a little bit?"
"Maybe not so much the physical things themselves, but what could happen as a result. Losing people you care about. Never getting to see them again."
"You had a lot on your mind as a child," she mused.
His gaze turned introspective. "I did."
Quistis would revisit this conversation again someday. There were so many things that she wanted to remember about their childhood, and she was looking forward to learning about Seifer's memory-retrieving experiments.
"Speaking of our past, I guess we'll be able to see Matron sooner than we thought," she said happily.
"My gift to you."
"What?" She propped herself onto an elbow. "We're changing course to Centra now because of you?"
"Mm-hmm." He gave her a victorious grin. "With a bit of charm and coercion, I was able to rearrange the schedule for you."
"Coercion? Never mind, I won't ask." She laid back down. "Thank you, Seifer. You're really spoiling me."
"Not spoiling," he corrected her. "Loving."
She tenderly brushed her knuckles over his cheek for a few moments. "Time for me to love you in return—I'll get your gift now."
Quistis clambered to her feet, opened up her dresser, and returned with a silver box.
He sat up on the bed and slowly removed the lid.
Seifer lifted up the blanket like it was treasure. The soft fabric was the same shade of green as his gorgeous eyes. Quistis' heart sailed into the heavens as she witnessed his joyful expression.
"It's a temperature-regulating blanket with active volcanic minerals in it," she explained shyly. "I hope you like it."
"I love it. You're the best." He wrapped the blanket around them and leaned back onto the bed, taking Quistis with him.
They cuddled up in the blanket's soothing folds, nearly drifting off to a peaceful sleep, when all of a sudden:
"HOLY HYNE."
"What's wrong?" she said, a touch of anxiety hovering on her features.
Seifer caressed her tattooed thumb with wonder in his eyes. "Do you remember what the finishing move was called?
"Finishing move?"
"The slap rule in the card game. Irvine taught us that the combination of a King and a Queen has a specific name."
Quistis remembered. "Oh! It's called…it's called a Marriage," she said in a tremulous whisper.
"Ms. Trepe." Seifer planted a chivalrous kiss on her hand. "I believe you've proposed to me via tattoo. An unconventional method by anyone's standards—but I, for one, am seriously digging the sexy ingenuity of it."
"Hmm." She grinned at this unexpected revelation. She liked the direction this was going. She liked it very much. "Is it possible to be ingenious by accident…?"
"Only for a badass Queen like you," he replied.
"Well, then," said Quistis amiably. "I'd be interested to hear your response to my proposal, Mr. Almasy."
In that moment, his soul breathed into her and swallowed her up and rinsed her down like the pristine ocean. She lost herself in his life-affirming gaze, swimming in the infinite beauty of who he was—and of who she was because of his love.
"I accept," he finally answered with a smile. "Whether we get married tomorrow or years from now…" He closed his eyes and pulled her close until their foreheads touched. "Know that my answer is the same."
And then Seifer kissed her in a fierce burst of summer fever that she would never, ever forget.
A lovely vision shimmered before her. Her gown flowed white and sprinkled gold. He took her in his arms and he spun her around. Their radiant laughter painted the world around them, and in turn the earth celebrated their union.
Quistis was no longer in the interzone between what she wanted and what she had.
They had met each other in a poetic storm, one that was underpinned with the theme of personal rebirth.
Together they had created order out of chaos into a rich dream that was very much alive and real.
And there was no greater joy in knowing that she belonged to him, Seifer Almasy—and that he belonged to her, Quistis Trepe.
The End
Author's Notes: To say that I enjoyed writing this story would be a vast understatement. My sincerest thanks to all of you who read, reviewed, and favorited! I am forever grateful to be a part of the Seiftis community. Take care until we meet again in the next fic.