Sorry this took longer than I expected, but, you see, my gods-damn computer erased the whole chapter RIGHT when I was finishing it.
/very, very, very, VERY angry look./
..you have no idea how hard I push myself to write this stuff...
and then the computer just up and DELETES IT
Ok, i'm done complaining...better start cracking. And, since I have to re-write, don't blame me if this turns out badly...something tells me i'll be up all night for this... /very angry look and a sigh/
(To my reviewers: I love you all more than anything, and Iwrote this 11797 word chapter all over again, just because I love you all so much! So please, keep reviewing: it inspires me so.)
Forgive me...this chapter is mostly very slow romantic-wise, but it might get better for you near the end at the "Almasy's piano room" scene...Wark. :U And omg, dear volian, your wish for a kiss JUST might come true...Just don't get your hopes up fluff-wise, because I generally don't write a lot of fluff unless it's a one-shot. I just don't work that way D:
"Narcissus erat iuvenis formosus et superbus. Putabat se formosissimum esse. Quamquam multae iuvenem amaverant, tamen Narcissus neminem praeter se amabat."
Narcissus was a shapely and beautiful youth. He thought that he was most handsome. Although many loved the youth, nevertheless, Narcissus loved nobody but himself.
-Ovid
Dancing in Drag
Chapter 7: So He Crashes Parties
"What do you mean, Squeifer isn't here?"
Irritated cobalt-blue eyes burned against wide dark-brown ones.
"Why isn't Seifer at his own party?" Rinoa demanded, a pouty look on her youthful face.
"First you tell me why Squall isn't here," Irvine said, folding his arms across his chest and tapping his foot, an impatient frown stretching his face.
"He didn't want to come!" They both said with a sigh. Rinoa pouted more and Irvine chuckled.
"This is no good," she said with a little whine. Then she glanced sharply at the cowboy; "And just why do you care where Squall is? Don't even think about it, coz she's waaay out of your league."
The auburn-haired young man cocked his head, bemused. "Well. You shoulda known by now that Kinneas plays in all leagues."
"Think what you want," the dark-eyes girl retorted with a little grin, "but Squall's league is way off-limits to you. And now that I think about it, so is mine." She giggled, and a slightly irritated look sparked in crystal-blue eyes.
"Sugar, if you're gonna insult me, ya can't be doin' it with the giggling..." He leaned in and smirked. "You should really try to be more like your sis..."
Rinoa blinked at him.
"Well, its no use just sitting around here mopin' about our bad luck," he said in a lighter tone. "I'll go get us some beers."
She watched his retreating back with somewhat of a dark expression on her face.
"He told me..." She huffed and crossed her arms. "He told me to be more like...? Ohh, just you wait, I'll tell Squall how mean you are, and he'll make cowboy jerky outta you," she mumbled with a falsely malicious little grin. Her face returned to its cheerful smile when Irvine returned through the crowded mass of teenagers, holding two beers in one hand.
"Here ya'are," the cowboy grinned, handing Rinoa a bottle of beer labeled "Styrska Breweries, Co." Her eyes widened just a bit as she recalled the time when she and Squall lived in the mountains of Trabia. She had gone downtown one of the first evenings they had been there, somehow ending up a district riddled with a diverse supply of breweries. She had found out that evening that Trabia was famous for its street of breweries. Of course, she hadn't ventured out there very often after that time, because even a party-crazy teenager will refrain from going to places that serve beer, for the mass of gritty old men that made up the majority of the brewery-going population. She recalled, however, passing a very large company called "Styrska Breweries, Co.," which she had found out later was the biggest brewer in much of the land. They were famous for their flavorful beer.
And they were also famous for their slogan, though it wasn't nearly as flavorful.
Styrska...Trabian for "Beer!"
Ugh. Honestly, Trabian for "Beer?" What was "Trabian" anyway? Did Trabia even have their own language, or what?
Doubtfully.
"Imported from Trabia?" Rinoa finally asked, and Irvine gave her a curious look, downing a mouthful of the stuff at the same time.
"Sure is, honey. How did you know?"
"I used to live there," she explained. He nodded, looking understanding, and she looked down at her full bottle dubiously as Irvine took another, smaller sip. He didn't fail to notice her action, though.
"Go ahead, down it," the cowboy pressed, and the dark-haired girl glanced up at him doubtfully. "It's damned good, honest. If it's one thing you can count on from Seifer's folks, it's that everything in their house is the best of its kind."
'Including Seifer,' Rinoa thought with a suppressed little smile.
"Hm...what do Sei's parents do, anyway?" She asked, finally taking a cautious sip of the beer and noting that, as a matter of fact, it did not taste too wonderful.
"Actually, I don't know," the auburn-haired young man took another mouthful of beer and sloshed it about his mouth, looking up thoughtfully, "All I know about 'em is they're crazy rich. Though, I mighta heard once from my old man that they do some shady business around here..."
"Shady business?" Rinoa's delicate dark brows rose slowly. "Care to elaborate?" Irvine chuckled.
"If I knew any more, I would," he said, narrow grin stretching his face. "But I ain't the type to think too hard on this stuff. Come on, sugar, let's find a couch to sit on..."
She frowned a bit.
"Well..." she hesistated. "...Okay. I guess that's fine. There doesn't seem to be any room on the dance floor, anyway." She smiled at him. Well, there really wasn't much else to do.
"You know, I think we'll get along just fine without Almasy and your sis," Irvine remarked with a wry grin.
She followed him through the crowd, to what she could only assume was going to be a couch. The dark-haired girl sighed, thoughts moving quickly from Irvine to Seifer.
'Why isn't he here?'
-o-0-o-
Mindless-
He didn't fully understand, but something he knew about music was...as opposed to science, or religion, a full understand wasn't necessary at all; in fact, it was almost undesired.
Aimless-
What kind of effect could a sound have on the mind? Soft or strong, peaceful or powerful; everywhere between one extreme to the other, no matter where, stimulates the human mind to a uniquely determined degree. Loud noises stimulate passionate emotions; the gentle caress of soft sound calms the mind to peace.
And this sound, this...music...brought from one point between passion and peace, stimulated...
Euphoria. Rapture. Intoxication.
That was the only and only explanation he could find for him not getting up and leaving immediately at the first sight of Seifer. That damned blonde and his music...
From the moment the blonde had started to play that saxophone, Squall told himself he'd just stay for a moment to listen. And soon, that moment became a bit longer. A bit longer yet after that. And finally, the hapless brunette gave into his whim and gave up on his reservations and self-arguing to simply enjoy the music the way Seifer had no doubt intended it to be. Eyelids flickered down over placid silver-blue eyes to heighten the floating sensation that he got from the smooth notes seeping into his ears and burning into his mind. Of course, such an obvious physical display of his captivity to the music couldn't have been a wonderful idea, but to fully appreciate the music the way it was intended, physical reservations were out of the question, period.
Besides, it wasn't as if Seifer even knew he was there. He could tell by the song, that the blonde was far too into his own performance. The true performer has only to be wary of one stage: his own mind. Squall could relate to this, as well: his feeling when connecting with his dance and the music in dance had to be similar to the connection right then of Seifer and his instrument.
Now, leaning back in his seat a little, Squall was hanging onto every note and letting go of each at just the right time to make the music just a bit more involved. Well, what could he say? He was a true appreciator.
"Oh gods...that's Seifer, isn't it?"
Delicate brown eyebrow twitched downward as his musical rapture was abruptly shattered by Zell's voice. Still rendered unable to compose coherent words, Squall sent an irked glance in the blonde's direction, careful to be quick enough so that he wouldn't see. Of course, the fact that Zell had broken his spell made him irritated, but he was still trying to avoid the gush of insecurities that would surely come from the blonde if he had seen Squall's look.
"It is," Kiros said. "And naturally you still have some hostility toward him, but next time, please try to be more considerate. Squall was really enjoying that. And, honestly, so was I."
Zell's eyes, darkened by the dim environment, narrowed as he looked down, an expression reaching his face that actually resembled somewhat of a mature look. Squall watched curiously, but remained silent.
"Sorry..." he mumbled, glaring at his thigh, "I just thought Squall doesn't like him..."
"I don't," Squall reassured the other quickly, "but he plays really well."
The crested blonde lifted cerulean eyes to lock with Squall's gaze, and he found himself drowning in a stifling cloud of metallic blue. Reluctantly, Zell tore his gaze away and frowned at his hands in his lap. His heart was pounding, and it was...
Mostly, it was anger. Why did Seifer have to be so good at sax? The fact that Squall didn't seem to loathe Seifer with every fibre of his being, made Zell...well, it was a torrent of negative emotion in his gut. Zell, for one, detested the other broad-shouldered, green-eyed young man.
He had always hated Seifer Almasy. Always. So much so and with such passion, that he didn't really even seem to need a reason.
But there was a reason. There had always been one. And...to be honest, it had nothing to do with Squall. It never had.
The three others were watching Zell with somewhat questioning looks on their faces, and they missed the point when Seifer's song stopped for the 1-minute interlude for preparations that left ample time for the honest but restrained clapping (for, in a small, out-of-the-way little club like this, even a wonderful performace will not constitute cheering and vigorous laudation.)
"Seifer...? Hey! His friend Fujin really likes me, ya know," Raijin interrupted the peaceful silence with his important input. Kiros smiled at him.
"That's wonderful to hear," the smiling boy said, albeit a little flatly. Zell rolled his eyes and leaned his chin on his hands, while Squall turned his attention back to the stage where Seifer was starting up again.
The saxophone and small bit of accompaniment created a lifting feeling again, almost blurring the room to the listeners.
"Gods..." Squall said, mostly to himself, "he's amazing..." Silver-blue eyes widened slightly as he tried to keep himself from falling asleep under the bewitching sound. Kiros watched him with a secretive type of smile on his face, eyes sparking in just the slightest amusement.
"It's true," Kiros said, smile growing a bit more as he studied Squall's expression, "he's brilliant."
Zell narrowed his eyes. What gave Kiros the right to act like he was on a date with Squall? Somehow, this whole situation was irksome and very disheartening. It was as if he and Raijin were completely cast aside from the whole production.
Not that it even mattered to Raijin; he was attempting to count the lights again.
"Guys, we might want to leave soon..." the blonde said to the others, "you know, so that Seifer doesn't notice us..."
Squall blinked but didn't look away from the stage.
"One more minute," the brunette mumbled off-handedly, still obviously into the performance. Kiros turned to glance at Zell, giving a little chuckle. The crested blonde frowned boyishly.
"What?" he snapped at Kiros, though he did it quietly enough not to anger Squall. Kiros smiled that secretive smile again and turned back to face the stage again.
"Nothing," the dark-skinned young man said through his grin.
Zell sighed and looked up at the dark ceiling, tapping his fingers silently on his lap. Sure, this music was pretty good, but he just didn't see why Squall and Kiros found it so amazing and spectacular. Was there some kind of trick to recognizing good music? He wasn't sure. Maybe his mind was subconsciously blocking out the true amazing qualities of the music because he knew it was Seifer playing. A little frown found his face.
"Actually, we really probably should get going soon," Kiros said at length, and apparently, his statement held more relevance to Squall. The brunette blinked away and looked at the dark young man with a displeased frown, but he nodded slowly.
"Yeah," Squall said, glancing back at Seifer one more time, "it's getting late, anyway."
-o-0-o-
"Where are you guys parked?"
Silver-blue eyes, nearly glowing under the pale moon light, turned as he glanced at Kiros.
"North Seaholm," Zell answered before the brunette could, taking pride in at least having come to Balamb with Squall instead of Kiros. Raijin nodded slowly.
Kiros raised a dark eyebrow at the shorter blonde and that same clean, even smile grew on his face. Ultramarine eyes narrowed just slightly as the blonde smiled back reluctantly. Well, if somebody smiled at you that much, you'd feel obligated to return the favor, too.
"Seaholm street..." Kiros narrowed his eyes in thought. "That's pretty far. I'll drive you there."
The walk back to Kiros' car wasn't very long. It was well into 11 PM, and the city was as lively as ever. Squall could hear live music seeping through door cracks out of various clubs as they walked in the relatively busy city streets. The glow of the moon didn't waver much; in fact, it only seemed to grow stronger as all of Balamb continued to fall deeper into that lost, undetermined space of time between dusk and dawn.
Kiros offered the passenger seat to Squall, holding the door for him and waiting as Zell and Raijin went to the back seat.
Cool wind coursed through the open car windows, even at their low speed. Kiros' hair was tied too tightly to be very affected by the breeze, but Squall's messy hair whipped around his face as loosely as silk drapes on an open window. The brunette had been watching the streets and buildings move past him leisurely, but his gaze stopped when he turned a bit and looked in the side-view mirror.
For a wordless moment, Squall just stared at himself.
'Is that really me?'
He couldn't doubt it when the girl in the mirror widened her eyes at the same time he did. Her dark brown hair whisked around her face's thin frame much like his, and her lips twisted into the very same surprised look that he was wearing.
It was eerie.
Much like his, the mirror girl's hair jumped, as did her eyebrows, when Kiros pulled to a stop. Silver-blue eyes, still muddled a bit, turned to glance ahead to see what exactly had happened, when he realized it was only a traffic light. They had stopped behind two cars at a red light, and they were about halfway to Seaholm St.
Sighing soundlessly, Squall leaned one side of his face on his hand, staring absently out the window as they waited for the lengthy red light to turn. Unnatural to the city life, there were actually few noises recognizable as cars except for slow humming and whirring sound of tires on the street; there was no honking or the klunking of old machinery. Only peaceful chatter came from the streets.
"...Leave me alone!"
Immediately, the brunette's metallic-blue gaze shot over to the source of the outburst, and, on the corner, he saw a woman trying to pull her wrist from a man's grip. His expression softened somewhat as he studied them off-handedly, until, just as the light was about to turn green, he noticed something about the woman...
'Instructor Trepe...?'
His eyes widened somewhat and dark brow raised as he watched who was now obviously Quistis trying to wrest herself away from a rather lofty man with an intimidating frame. Pale, slender fingers grasped lightly against the windowframe of Kiros' car as he leaned forward a bit. He squinted a bit, trying to see the man.
The man hit her across the face, and Squall's mouth fell slightly open as Quistis stumbled back. The man had come into one of the lights by the sidewalk, and had turned in a huff to glare at whomever had been watching-who happened to be Squall-before Kiros started to drive away:
Blond hair and forest-green eyes...
Squall immediately felt his heart drop into his stomach and he looked away, eyes frightfully wide. His hair whipped up again in the breeze that came with Kiros driving again.
Then his expression darkened exceptionally and he glared at his hands. He was new in Balamb and Garden High, after all, and he couldn't assume that he knew everything about what was going on, but...
The brunette shook his head to himself. How could that blonde be so sick? He asked himself. Honestly, though, it wasn't such a "sick" thing...even though hitting a woman is wrong, he should have expected it from someone like Seifer.
He willed away the more honest reasoning to his upset state: his belief that someone who could play music like that couldn't be completely rotten. Seifer was a different person on stage; he even used a different name.
And that hope kept breaking. He told himself, it's useless to try; there isn't any layer to this man. He's just shallow and narcissistic.
What he failed to realize was that, at that same moment, Seifer had never left the club in the first place, and was only just finishing his last performance of the night and getting packed to head home.
But with the same willingness that Squall had to believe that the tall blonde was really a good person, came a more cautious and seemingly realistic belief that he was probably just as he seemed: selfish and horribly insensitive.
-o-0-o-
"Thanks," Squall said quietly, getting out of the car where Zell had stopped in front of his house. They had parted ways with Kiros downtown and Zell had driven Squall home, with Raijin whistling a song about farmers in the back seat.
The blonde glanced at Squall uncertainly as he got out of the passenger seat. He seemed kind of out of it.
"Hey..."
The brunette turned and regarded him with weary silver-blue eyes, waiting silently for Zell to continue instead of making any acknowledging noise.
"Uh..." Zell scratched his face against the dark crest, "Are you alright?"
Squall smiled tiredly at him and nodded slowly.
"Just a little tired," the brunette explained, faking a yawn behind slender fingers. "Thanks for tonight, though. I had a great time."
The crested blonde felt his face grow warm with a pleasant little blush and he nodded, azure eyes narrowing slightly in an adorable grin. Squall laughed quietly and gave him a lazy wave good-bye, and Zell waited for the brunette to go all the way inside before driving off.
Squall wasn't actually very sleepy. He was exhausted, though, and he was about to throw himself down to attempt sleep when he noticed the light on the home phone was blinking. He went over to it and pressed "playback."
One new message, from Rinoa Cell
Beep
A-hahaha! H-hey, stop-haha-st-stop it! Ahaha! AAH! AHahHhahAHA...Huh? Oh..h-aHA-STOOOP! Whahaha! Oh..oh! Uhhh...Squall? Hee hee! I'm juuust having an AWESOME time a--AHAHaha! Noooo! Whaha! Oh-haha! I-Hah-I...hAH HOLD ON A SEC! I'm ...I'm calling you from Sei's party! It's a bla-AHAHA! A bla-ast! You should reaaally be here, bro! YAH! Oh my gosh, wahaha! No-no-no...no, hold on...AHHHAHAH! Wahaha! SQUALLEE! Did you know Seifer has-AHAH-ah-ahaha, he ha-aha--has two kitchens? Two-ahaha-two-kitchens, and like, five cooks...AAHAHHA, STOP DOING THAT! WAHAHA!
Beep
Squall groaned and massaged his temple very hard. He glared at the answering machine.
"I told her not to get wasted!" he growled, hastily grabbing for his car keys.
-o-0-o-
Had he been in less of a hurry, Squall might have taken the time to truly stop and gawk at the huge row of magnificent, castle-like houses in the subdivision he was driving into. It was a miniature utopia: a gated community, every house with the greenest of lawns and the healthiest, liveliest of gardens. Every house was in perfect condition, and some were even partially painted in hues that would have looked trashy on any other kind of building. Each was perfect and the same, yet different from the others. Even in the middle of the night, the neighborhood looked inviting and friendly. It was difficult, and not something the hapless brunette was used to.
Glancing down at the address that Rinoa had scribbled down on a notepad much earlier, Squall made sure to pay close attention to the numbers of the houses (especially because it was so dark out.)
However, he should have realized that he wasn't truly in need of the number on the house. All he needed was the din of music through the upcoming mansion's walls and the incredible amount of cars parked up front and along the side. He pulled up and parked somewhere nearby.
As he made his way up the steep, long driveway of the Almasy house, he looked at a few of the cars parked along the side. They were all pretty nice cars, with pretty nice interiors, as far as he could see. He only stopped looking when he came by one and heard odd noises. He pitched and ran when a woman's leg, with only a high-heeled shoe on her foot, pressed against the window.
Gross.
Still creeped out, he slowed down just a little while nearly at the top of the long driveway. He jumped a little when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and spun around a bit too fast.
"Hey, newbie!" A somewhat low girl's voice with strange, unidentifiable dialect, rang out at him. "What are yah doing here?"
Squall calmed down and rubbed an eyelid with his index and middle finger, squinting through the dark to see the girl. Brown hair flipped out at the sides, green eyes that slanted down a bit at the corners, and a cute, girlish little nose. She jutted her hip to the side and put a hand on it, grinning mischievously.
"Yah don't remember me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He blinked tiredly.
"I'm in a hurry," he started, but she shook her head vigorously at him, laughing shortly.
"No need for hurrying," she said in a mockingly sing-song voice, "You're trying to sneak into Almasy's party, aren't yah? Ah-ah! I knew it." She grinned.
A little put off by the strange one whom he now recognized as the girl who had known his name in Dance class, Squall couldn't find much to say.
"I'm not...sneaking in..." he mumbled.
Selphie laughed out.
"Yeah, riiight," she mocked slowly, "As if Seifer would invite a newbie like you to his party!" She laughed sarcastically.
The brunette frowned, silver-blue eyes shining as they reflected the moon. Why was this girl such a...nuisance? And why did she insist on continually calling him "newbie?"
"I don't know," he said, trying to end the conversation as concisely as possible, "were you invited?"
Selphie's grin fell and green eyes darkened a shade.
"Why do yah think I'm hanging around outside, idiot?" she said, glaring sharply at him. "Since you're trying to sneak in, yah might as well just join forces with me. Common goal...ever heard of it?" She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes dangerously at him.
He sighed and scratched his head, glancing up at the doorway of the large house.
"Sorry...I'm not sneaking in."
"WHAT? Stop trying to make yourself look better in front of me!" She squawked at him. "I'm hanging out here until I can get in, so no way are yah gonna pretend you were invited!"
"Do you need me to prove it to you?" the brunette sighed and his leg twitched, itching to sprint away. Of course, he figured it wouldn't be that easy.
The brown-haired girl flipped her hair and shook her head.
"Yah know what?" She crossed her arms and narrowed moss-green eyes at Squall. "I don't care if that's true or not. You're still gonno help me sneak in."
Squall turned and started to walk away.
"HEY!" Selphie called out after him. "Get back here! We gotto work together to get in, idiot! Yah can't do it without me!"
He didn't stop walking. He had to go make sure Rinoa wasn't doing anything stupid, and honestly, Selphie was really just a big pain in the-
"YAARGGGH! YOU, SQUALL! IF YAH DON'T GETCHER ARSE BACK OVER HERE, I'LL TELL EVERYONE!"
Squall stopped and slowly turned around, frowning down at the green-eyed girl that had just managed to run up to him, catching her breath.
"Excuse me?" he asked quietly, eyes still reflecting a glow of the moon.
"You heard right!" Selphie glared at him, fixing her ruffled hair and folding her arms again. "Yah watch your back around me, or everyone gets to know what yah really are!"
"What..." his eyes widened in a little stricken expression, and he leaned down. "...What...?"
She pursed her lips and pouted in a fake sympathetic look.
"Oh my, I've got a rather large mouth...what would happen if I accidentally let it slip that Squall Loire is a guy?"
His first instinct was to freeze over completely and just stare at her as if she were crazy. As if she had completely cracked; as if she had no idea what the hell what nonsense was coming from her mouth.
Too bad that wasn't the case.
"I...what...? You wouldn't..." he frowned darkly and stared hard at Selphie's face.
"Now, now," the brown-haired girl tapped her foot and flicked her wrist impatiently in the air. "Let's not make a drama outto this, alright? Just come along with the knowledge that yah could be in serious trouble if yah make me mad." She smirked, looking like the smart-aleck that she was.
Silver-blue eyes sparked over icily and he frowned to himself. How in the world had she found out? Why in the world couldn't she just keep quiet about it instead of apparently trying to make his life living hell?
He sighed and nodded.
-o-0-o-
"I don't get it," Squall mumbled, straining as he pulled harder on the rope. The other end was tied around the lightweight Selphie's waist, and it was pulleyed over a tree branch near one of the Almasys' windows. There was a small lattice under one of the windows, with meager plantlife twisting pathetically around it, and he was using the rope to hoist Selphie up in the air to grab onto it.
Honestly, he thought it was a pretty stupid thing to do.
"Selphie," he growled, struggling to pull the rope down harder, "why the hell are we doing this? This kind of thing only works in fanfiction." He groaned.
"Shut up!" Selphie squealed with a huge grin. "I'm almost there! Almost got it! Yah doin' great!" She held her arms out in front of her as far as she could, squinting her eyes and struggling for the lattice. "A little higher, newbie!"
Squall grunted and pulled a little more, glaring up at her.
"What if the police come?"
Green eyes turned to look down at him and she stuck out her tongue, kicking her legs in mid-air a little impatiently.
"If the police come, then it was all your idea!" She yelled down at him, and the brunette winced, the faded scar between his eyes crinkling delicately under his brow muscles, strengthened from so much frowning.
"AH! Got it!" She yelled, and he instinctively "shh"ed her. The green-eyed young woman grinned crazily as she grasped onto the lattice and climbed stealthily up to the windowsill without even so much as a slip.
Squall watched with wide silver-blue eyes, still lit under the forced glow of the night sky. What the heck was she, spider girl?
Well, Squall thought, her personality is poisonous enough.
The window was open, so Selphie slipped inside, and at this point, Squall was beginning to realize she hadn't even discussed a way for him to get in. Scowling slightly, he started to walk away and just go to the front door like he had originally intended to, but he was stopped by a high-heeled shoe flying at the back of his head and hitting him with a sharp pain.
"AH!" He spun around, quickly cutting off his yelp from fear of disturbing the peace. Selphie's head was sticking out the window, smirking at him and making an odd childish face of mockery. He rubbed his head and frowned up at her.
"Aren't yah coming?" She asked, indicating that he should somehow be able to get up two stories and into the window without assistance. He folded his arms and was about to ask how, exactly, he was supposed to accomplish that, when she dropped the same rope that had been around her waist out the window.
"Climb, newbie, climb!" She squealed in delight.
He blinked up at her, eyes traveling along the rope until it reached the ground.
"I can just go through the door," he called up at her, and she shook her head vigorously, hair bouncing side-to-side insanely.
"No! And even if yah can, I don't want yah to! I wanna see yah climb!" She giggled to herself, making a "come on" gesture with her hand.
Knowing that disobeying these requests would mean walking in dangerous waters, Squall hesitantly took hold of the rope and looked up again. She nodded with a grin.
"It's tied real tight, newbie! Yah won't fall."
Eyelids clenched shut over troubled silver-blue eyes, and he pinched the bridge of his nose before nodding and awkwardly placing a foot on the wall.
'At least I changed into boots.'
He didn't even want to imagine attempting this with those horrid contraptions called "flip-flops" on his feet.
He was also lucky that he didn't weigh very much, so the only thing he had to worry about was getting the heel of his boots into the crevices between bricks and hoping to hell fires that the rope wouldn't break and he wouldn't let go.
"Ahh?...!" His boot slipped and he clutched the rope for dear life. He heard Selphie's sardonic laughing and he squinted up, glaring at her.
"Help me..." he growled, and she looked down, studying his situation.
"You're close enough to grab the lattice," she said, folding her arms over her chest and unfolding them again. "Climb up a little higher and I'll grab yah."
Squall hesistated a moment, just staring uncertainly at the rickety lattice. He was about a full 4 inches taller than Selphie, and probably much heavier than her, too; he wasn't sure if the white-painted frame would support his weight.
But it was either that, or hang there until someone decided to let him down. And somehow, he didn't see Selphie as being that someone.
Reluctantly reaching out a strong but slender hand, Squall took a deep breath and clutched onto the lattice, using it for support as he held the rope steadily against himself with the other hand. It shook a little, but he managed to get up to the bottom of the window, and immediately clutched onto the sill.
"Hey!" he called somewhat quietly. "Hey!"
Selphie's grinning face reappeared in the window and she grabbed his wrist with both of her arms, pulling as hard as she could. With a little back force from Squall against the lattice, he pulled up far enough and held himself on the sill with his elbows, reaching a leg over. But Selphie was already too far ahead and yanked him right into the room.
"Ahhhhh!" She squealed. He tumbled through the windowpane and fell on top of her stomach as she fell back, cold sweat just starting to form on his forehead. That was an unpleasant experience.
Squall didn't think to get up, instead, just looked up and noticed how plainly furnished the room was. It looked as if it were a guest room, but contrary to the outside appearance of the house, it wasn't too embellished. It was a nice room, of course, but wasn't as fancy as he expected it would be.
"Would yah get offo me already?" Selphie barked, squirming under him. "You're damn heavy!"
Ignoring the comment about his weight, Squall nodded and pushed himself up with his hands, tugging his foot all the way through the window. Something tugged back and his hand slipped. He fell back down on her.
"Ow! What are yah doin!" She squrimed more, trying to push him up, but found the position too compromising. Squall winced and tugged at his foot and that same something tugged back. He craned his neck and glanced back.
"Hnn..." the taller brunette mumbled with a little groan. "My ankle's caught in the rope."
"AH! Good grief, yah idiot! Just get off!"
He tried to balance himself up on his elbows again, carefully making sure not to put any weight on his trapped foot. Suddenly, a noise from the door, and both Squall and Selphie glanced over at it.
The doorknob turned and two young men walked into the room: one with nearly colorless silver hair, and one with blonde. The silver-haired was leading the blonde in by the hand.
Squall nearly choked up and struggled harder against the rope, to no avail. Selphie squirmed with more force. Needless to say, the silver-haired boy saw them immediately and his teal eyes stared at the two with a bit of a stricken expression.
"Oh my. Did we interrupt something, ladies?"
"No!" Squall nearly cried out, still struggling against the rope in dismay. "It's...uh..."
"NOT what it looks!" Selphie finished, wincing as her hair got stuck under Squall's elbow. "YOW! Let go! Dumbass!"
The other let go of the teal-eyed boy's hand and scratched his spiked blond head, completely lost. A little blush came across the short boy's face.
"Zephyr?" He looked up at his friend. "Um...what's...I thought you said this room was always empty..."
"It usually is," Zephyr laughed and took back the blonde's hand. "I don't think we really should be asking the details of this story. Let's leave them to their business, shall we?" He smiled secretively and kissed the blonde's cheek. He giggled.
"OOOKAY then," Selphie barked, turning her messed head up to glare at Zephyr, "Don't yah think it would be a good idea to help us out? We can't really get up!"
Zephyr sighed and nodded reluctantly, a little smile just barely evident on his face. "Wait here, Eric."
He ruffled the blonde's spikes and went over to the two struggling teens, surveying their situation with a little smile and a raised eyebrow.
"Now...how, and why, exactly, did you two end up like this?" He asked, smiling still, and untangling Squall's ankle from the rope. The brunette breathed in relief and sort of fell and tumbled off of Selphie, pulling himself quickly up to his feet. Selphie did something of the sort not long after.
"I have no idea..." Squall breathed to himself, slightly vexed at the whole situation. He brushed a hand through his hair and pushed a large tuft behind one ear, where it had been before.
"Ohh, sure," Selphie folded her arms and narrowed suspicious green eyes at Squall, leaning forward. "As if this wasn't ALL your idea."
"Wha?" Silver flashed over blue eyes in complete confusion, and he glanced at Zephyr almost helplessly. "It wasn't my idea..."
"Was SO!" Selphie pushed his shoulder a little and he rolled it off, frowning almost like a pout.
"No...it wasn't..."
"LIAR!"
Zeph tapped his foot and scratched shining silver hair. "Uh...what wasn't whose idea?"
Both brunettes turned and glanced at him, before glancing back at eachother in defeat.
"Nothing," they both said shortly.
He laughed for a long time, and Squall stood there, feeling extremely awkward while Selphie huffed and looked away. The blonde known as Eric was also standing quietly over by the door, ever patient, but also very confused.
"Whatever mischief you two were making," Zeph said with a sigh, walking back over to the door, "just try not to wreck Seifer's house while you're at it."
Eric's somewhat hazy blue eyes were still studying Squall curiously. The brunette frowned a little, looking away with a self-conscious brush of his hand against the skirt that was over his jeans.
"We'll wreck the house if we WANT to!" Selphie barked out as Zephyr was leading Eric out again. The silver-haired boy turned with a curious look toward Selphie. He then slowly blinked at Squall, as if saying, Why the heck are you with such a psycho?
Squall looked back penitently, as if saying, That is a very good question.
"Uh..." Zephyr scratched his head a little and shrugged. "Right. Whatever..."
"Actually, hold up." Selphie nearly bounced over to the tall teen and pursed her lips. "I'm not really here with that loser newbie." She flipped her hair vainly again and Squall resisted the urge to roll his now dull silver-blue eyes. "I was wondering if yah could tell me where Irvine is."
Zephyr raised a fair eyebrow at her and looked slightly put off.
"Irvine? Well..." He glanced behind him down into the foyer, where there was a small group of kids that had come out of the party area to take a break and smoke. "I think he's down there...somewhere."
"Oi, and so here I come! Better watch yah back, Irv!" She laughed to herself and kind of pushed between Zephyr and Eric, sliding down the stairs' rail and disappearing in the mass.
Eric stared after her for a moment and turned back to look at Squall. It was somewhat irritating, actually. Why didn't the blue-eyed boy say something? Squall did his best to ignore the diminutive blonde and walked over to the room's door as well.
"Have you seen my sister?" Always punctual, Squall stared Zeph straight in the eye. Teal eyes widened slightly and confusion flickered through them yet again.
"You have a sister?"
"...Yeah." Squall tapped his fingers against the side of his leg anxiously. "I kind of need to see her right now. She's almost as tall as me, with darker hair and reddish highlights. Her name's Rinoa."
"Rinoa..." Zeph looked thoughtful for a moment and then his aqua green eyes flickered up. "Oh! Was she wearing a red top?"
"Yes..." Anxiety started to form in Squall's gut. Had a certain someone with a red top possibly done something incredibly stupid? The silver-haired young man laughed.
"No need to give me that look," he said with a lighthearted laugh, "just follow me." He left the frame of the doorway, Eric following behind meekly with his hand still clutched in Zeph's. Squall frowned and followed close after, coming up at the blonde's side.
"Hi..." the blonde called Eric greeted, turning his blue eyes over to Squall as he smiled. The brunette smiled back briefly, off-handedly wondering why his eyes looked so foggy. He considered that this boy might be blind, but then dismissed that idea. His eyes weren't unfocused; just hazy.
When Squall smiled back, Eric grinned boyishly and flashed a small bit of perfect white teeth.
"What's your name?" the blonde asked with a cheerful tone. Squall glanced to the side at him.
"...Squall."
Delicate, almost feminine features moved in an impressed look.
"That's an awesome name." Eric looked almost like...a doll, or something. So content and so fragile. Squall laughed shortly.
"Thanks."
Eric nodded and glanced at an expensive painting on the wall. Squall noticed things like this, too; the house, like the outside, and unlike the guest room that he had so pleasantly fallen into, was gallantly furnished. Everything was modern, but expensive. Rich people...
"I'm Eric Cloud," the blonde interrupted his thoughts, beaming so brightly that Squall wondered to himself if the sun was already up.
"Hmm." The brunette smiled slightly and nodded in acknoledgement, not really feeling up to throwing false compliments around. Gods, this was taking forever. Where in hell fires was Rinoa that Zeph was taking so long to get there?
"Yep," Zeph spoke, and apparently Eric had been unaware that he had been listening because the blonde blushed slightly. "Little Cloud here is my boyfriend."
The brunette raised an eyebrow as the blonde turned even more red.
Boyfriend?
So, Squall was a little confused. Apparently, Zeph was gay. Apparently, he was open with his homosexuality. And, apparently, Zeph was still popular despite this. That meant...what? That people didn't mind gays at Garden High? That was a first for Squall.
"But don't tell anyone," the silver-haired one added at length. "Nobody really is supposed to know that, but I just wanted to prove to little fickle here that I'm serious..." Teal eyes glanced back at the blonde uncertainly.
Eric pulled his hand away from Zephyr's as they walked, frowning and blushing more, looking away.
"Zeph...I believe you already...you didn't have to tell her..."
Squall suppressed a loud groan and clenched his eyes shut. So here he was, stuck in the middle of a homosexual soap opera...
"Oh! Here you are. She's just passed out in here, but we checked her earlier and she's all fine." Zeph was rambling. "You know, she's a pretty crazy girl. You sure you two are related? Actually, never mind, I think Eric and I'd better go...we have to take care of something. Enjoy yourself."
Hastily, he pulled the blonde back down the hallway and before Squall could even blink, they were out of sight. Why was everyone so energetic at...
He looked at a clock on the wall.
Why was everyone so energetic at 1:30 in the morning?
Pushing into the small, well-lit room that was considerably better furnished than the room he had fallen into with Selphie, Squall frowned as he spotted Rinoa dozing on the room's couch, one leg on the armrest and the other nearly on the floor. A ridiculously content look was on her sleeping face. He hated to think it, but she looked pretty dumb.
"Rino..." He kneeled next to her and pinched her cheek gently, silver-blue eyes narrowing in a soft look and then glancing up and down her, happy to notice nothing was wrong except for the scent of an odd alcohol on her breath. She was still breathing, though, and he could tell easily as it was hard not to see every movement she made through the tight, form-hugging material.
Squall sighed to himself. How could she dress so suggestively and then get wasted?
"Rinoa...hey, get up. We have to leave." Squall prodded her cheek again and she frowned, losing that happy and dumb look for a more bothered one. "Reenoo... Wake up." He almost laughed when hazy dark-brown eyes blinked slowly open.
Her hands came up to her face immediately, shielding from the light and rubbing her tired eyelids.
"Squall! ...Are...are we in DisneyWorld yet?" She sat straight up and groaned loudly, lying back down again. "Ahh...no? Where am I?"
"You know," Squall mumbled, checking her forehead and then fanning her slightly, "I did tell you not to get wasted."
She glanced at him and grinned widely through muddled eyes.
"Big bro...I love youuu!...HAaahn." She finished with a yawn.
He couldn't suppress a chuckle, stroking her hair once before standing up.
"Love you too, but you havegotto do something about that drinking of yours," he chided, and she giggled, turning over on the couch to bury her face in the mattress in an attempt to sleep again.
"Come on, Rinoa, let's go home and you can sleep there." He glanced down. "Where's your jacket?"
She turned over lazily and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Down...the hall...uh..." she frowned as if struggling for something. "The hall...hall..." She paused, then grinned. "Oh yea. The hallway."
Silver-blue eyes sparked over in amusement and he shook his head, going out in the hall.
"Just wait here."
-o-0-o-
Down the hallway...
Squall should have taken time to consider that in a house like the Almasys', there would be many things that "down the hallway" could mean. Of course, he hadn't taken the time to consider, and he was thorougly confused after about 20 seconds.
He didn't see the jacket anywhere in the actual hallway, so he imagined it might be in a room. However, most of the rooms had closed doors, and the few that he had tried had either been locked or had an activity going on behind them that kept Squall away with the effectiveness of a lock.
The brunette wandered about the main upstairs hall rather aimlessly; there were a few open doors that he peeked into, but most of the rooms were dark and empty. He didn't think Rinoa's jacket would be in those. But then again, it might be. Honestly...he was tired. He didn't feel up to looking in every room he came across.
Squall was not surprised when he got to another dark room, but it was a double-door and the frame was somewhat taller and grander than the others. It was also the last room in the hall and was on the end instead of the sides. Thinking that maybe this was where Rinoa had dumped her jacket, he slowly pushed the door open and silver-blue eyes scanned the room for occupants before he relaxed more and entered. It was empty.
The whole room had an overwhelmingly intense feel to it. It was like being trapped in a dream: the moonlight burning against the darkness of the tall windows; tall drapes falling elegantly along their sides; the far wall being the display of many musical instruments and a full grand piano in the centre of the polished wood flooring that was playing a gentle melody. The moon's glow through the tallest middle window illuminated part of the piano and a portion of the floor.
No, Rinoa's jacket was not there. But something about the room was drawing him in, and something inside Squall told him it would not be right to leave just yet.
Besides, a mesmerizing song was being played on the huge grand piano. He could see that nobody was sitting there from the glow of the moon, but it was one of those pianos that could play itself through a program. Nothing about the music seemed mechanical, though; it was as if it had been recorded.
Squall sighed a bit in sedated contentment, sinking to the floor and leaning against the wall. Eyelids flickered down over glowing silver-and-blue, brown head of hair leaning back as he let the soft melody ease his heart. This was truly therapy: no massage or expensive procedure could ever outweigh music's floating sensation on his whole body.
It always made him wonder: Have I died and gone to heaven? It felt so.
Yes; he felt as if he was slowly losing himself to the sky. With every breath he took, a little piece of him melted into the clouds. A little contented sigh passed his lips. And when he felt just about completely gone, he brought himself back just barely and stood up slowly, moving across to the piano with smooth steps.
Silver was unnaturally stagnant over his blue eyes as he watched the song being played by the mechanism, keys going up and down and moving so smoothly and quietly as if an angel's sweet breath was flitting across the piano.
Slowly, his foot moved without his conscious effort. His other foot followed. Smooth movements and graceful steps later, his arms were drawn up and his neck craned just barely as he turned his face ever slightly. The song had hypnotized him, he decided, and he let his body fall into an instinctive, flawless dance.
It was the true meaning of being captivated by song. Perhaps it wasn't joy he felt when dancing, but the quintessence of calm and belonging. There were no complex emotions or troubles during dance. It was his secret retreat from the chaos that was the world, his peaceful refuge from the confusions of life. It was his place and his alone, and being there was the only time that Squall truly understood himself.
"Wow...you're really good."
Suddenly shaken from his angel's reverie, Squall realized what he was doing, when he was doing it, and where he was doing it, and came to a stricken halt. Troubled silver-blue eyes flickered over to the doorway and widened upon meeting an all-too-familiar gaze of jade-green.
"Seifer?"
His face grew warm and he looked down, expecting some kind of sarcastic joke or bothersome comment. Squall couldn't do much. He didn't even want to look at Seifer after the whole thing in the city...
"Ah-ahha," the man in the doorway laughed and tapped his fingers against the doorframe, narrowing his green eyes in a grin. Squall glanced at him, looking slightly defeated.
"Nothing of this is funny..." the brunette mumbled to himself, but the blonde apparently had caught it.
"It is, though." He walked into the room with a narrow grin, only a part of him luminated by the moon. The rest of him was rather difficult to make out.
"..." Squall glared at his hands and shook his head to himself, straightening his back a bit and mumbling something as he tried to walk past. A strong hand grabbed his elbow and pulled him back in the room almost too forcefully.
"What..."
"Quiet," The blonde said sharply, reaching his arm behind him to shut the door. Silver-blue eyes flew wide open and he stared at the taller man in disbelief.
A bad feeling kicks in right...about...now.
"What are you...-ah...?...!"
Squall struggled, but a fierce grip on his turtleck's fabric pushed him against the wall and he couldn't reach the ground. It was a trying situation, admittedly; he was forcing himself not to panic and to think rationally.
Not good...not good...
Hot breath tickled his neck extremely uncomfortably, and Squall only grunted slightly, trying to pull away. The blonde's grip on his collar only strengthened and warm, harsh lips sloppily kissed around his neck and up his jaw to his ear, where sharp teeth bit him and blew shallow breaths.
Not, not, not good...at all.
"Let go..." Squall groaned, feeling already thoroughly violated and somehow believing that this was not the worst of the blonde's plans.
"You little slut..." The blonde pulled back for a moment and stared him hard in the eyes, the jade-green of his own glowing with a demonic intent. Dark-rimmed metallic blue widened even more and he was starting to feel nauseated...
'Shit, shit, shit...and I didn't even find Rinoa's jacket...'
The blonde then closed his long, strong fingers around Squall's neck as he tried squirming harder. He choked and gasped for breath. What kind of hellish dream had this angelic room become? The piano still played gently in the background.
"L-Let go..."
...Just that malicious jade-green stare: for a long while, as the brunette started to feel light-headed and was having a difficult time drawing breath.
"Seif...Let...g.go..."
SLAM
"GET THE FUCK OFF HER!"
Squall didn't have time to realize what was happening except that he could breathe again (albeit a little painfully.) Lightly touching his neck, Squall glanced up, blurry vision finding focus again as he tried to find who had knocked his assailant off.
Silver-blue eyes widened once again, and Squall had to blink twice or three times to be sure he was seeing correctly.
Seifer, and...
Seifer?
"You little bastard! Get the fuck out of here! This isn't your business!" The Seifer who had apparently assaulted Squall yelled angrily at the other.
"You get the fuck out of here! You sick shit!" Seifer 2 made to grab the other's collar but missed; instead, he pulled up and socked Seifer 1 in the jaw. Squall cringed. That made a loud, unequivocal noise that made his stomach turn a bit. Then again, his stomach had been turning ever since Seifer 1 had entered the room earlier.
Seifer 1 held his jaw and glared at the other, storming out of the room and mumbling something to himself, slamming the door behind him for no reason.
"And STAY the hell out!"
After a moment of silence and Seifer 2 glaring at the door after the other blonde, the remaining green-eyed young man turned almost awkardly and looked over Squall.
"Dammit..." the blonde breathed to himself. "He didn't do anything, did he?"
The brunette shivered slightly and shook his head, shakily standing up. His eyes were still wide.
"You...are...who?" Okay, so it was a bit of a dumb question, but he was still shaken about the two Seifers. You would be, too.
The blonde laughed almost bitterly.
"Seifer Almasy, the very same rotten-hearted bastard from school," he said with a half-smile.
"Then who was the other...?" Dammit, Squall growled at himself in his head. His hands were still shaking. Why weren't they stopping?
Green eyes widened unevenly and a shocked expression struck Seifer's handsomely shadowed features.
"Are you kidding?" he spat, and Squall looked away immediately. "You thought that was me?"
"Y..You look the same to me," the brunette answered in a shaken voice, and Seifer sneered, folding his arms and turning away.
"That," he fumed angrily, "was my sick shit of a father." He looked away, angry, and, if Squall was seeing correctly, ashamed.
"...Oh..." The brunette silently watched Seifer as the blonde folded his arms and looked down at his shifting foot. Then he realized something: that man in the city, who had been with Quistis...
"Hhn..." Squall made a little throaty noise as if he wanted to say something, and slightly troubled candy-green eyes rose to meet his questioningly.
"What is it?" Seifer asked, obviously still miffed about his dad.
"Earlier...in..." he hesitated. He wanted to ask, but he also didn't want to bring up the city, because he figured Seifer might have had suspicions about the short-haired brunette that had been listening to him play in that club. "Did...? Were...? ...uh." He looked down and up again, slightly perplexed. "Were you in the city?"
Oh, very good question. Of freaking course he was in the city; both Seifer and what was possibly also Seifer had been there! Smooth.
The blonde raised an eyebrow and a small grin grew on his face, green eyes sparking with the first pleasant emotion Squall had seen there since Seifer had entered the room.
"You should know better than anyone," he remarked slyly, cocking his head and wearing a more lopsided grin. "You were the one sitting there like a zombie when I played."
Squall's brow twitched and he looked away quickly, twisting his mouth uncomfortably. He felt very helpless and kind of stupid, for all these things people found out about him; Selphie with his identity, Zeph with his unorthodox means of entering the party, and now Seifer with his now completely embarrassing display of...enjoyment of his music. Woe was him.
"Mm." The brunette whined a little, and electric-silver on stagnant-blue eyes turned to look at anything they could but the blonde. He folded his arms across his chest in discomfort.
"Well, why do you ask?" Seifer let out a little soundless sigh and walked back a little, grunting silently as he pulled himself to sit on the edge of the grand piano that was still playing the soft melody (the top of the piano was down.)
"...I thought I saw you in the street," Squall said almost too quietly. "It was...you were..." he hesitated again, not sure how to word it. "Quistis..you hit...her." He then turned an accusing silver-blue stare at Seifer, just to be safe in case it had been this blonde.
Forest-green eyes flashed indignantly and Seifer covered his face with his hands, massaging it very slowly and forcefully. He frowned so hard that he might have gotten lines if he had kept it up much longer.
"I told her to stay away from him!" He growled. "Didn't I tell you, idiot? I told you the guy's a fuckin' bastard."
He seemed to be growling at someone who was probably not Squall. The brunette was silenced and he watched Seifer's silent reprimanding commence. If he weren't trying to keep the feel of the whole situation, Squall might have admitted to himself that this was highly amusing to watch.
"Um."
Suddenly, as if Seifer had only just realized he was in someone's presence, the blonde glanced up penitently and shook his head gruffly at Squall.
"It wasn't me," he mumbled with a sharp, irate glance. "That damn teacher from our school's been trying to get my asshole dad to put in word with Balamb's city to build some kind of dance institution."
Delicate brown eyebrows rose to the height of Squall's forehead. Quistis was?
Something then burst into flame in Seifer's green eyes and he narrowed them just slightly, tightening his fists as if he wanted to jump up and smash something-or someone-to pieces.
"That woman didn't listen to me, did she? All he ever wanted from her was a goddamn f-"
"Uhn." Squall shook his head with a small sigh. "Okay...I get it..."
Seifer looked up at Squall, almost helplessly, but it was quickly masked under a brooding frown. The brunette blinked slowly, and Seifer didn't say more.
The piano's airy song was drifting about the room more noticeably now. Squall lowered his eyelids to look down at his hands, as he yawned and sleepy tears came to his eyes. Something told him he was going to be in a very bad and tired mood tomorrow. He felt prematurely bad for Zell, knowing that some of the more tiresome things the crested blonde would undoubtedly do might cause Squall, in his angry state, to react in a less than civil manner.
But it wasn't the time to be thinking ahead just yet.
The weighted silence rested uncomfortably on the two, and the piano's aimless playing only proved to be a worthy distraction from the awkward moment.
"...C'mere for a second." The blonde finally said, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully across the room at Squall.
Squall didn't move.
"Gods," Seifer sighed and rolled darkened green eyes, throwing his hands up in defeat, "I'm not going to try anything stupid. I just want to see something."
The brunette watched Seifer suspiciously. This was Seifer, the narcissistic, egotistical bastard. And still, he walked a few steps closer to the blonde, who was far across the room on the piano.
'This isn't a good idea,' Squall told himself with an inward sigh. 'I can't stop, though...'
He was about 5 feet away from Seifer when he stopped. Silver-blue eyes came up to meet a slightly brooding dark-green gaze. The brunette held back a shiver that was threatening his spine. He stood there patiently.
"You know..." Seifer leaned back on his arms on top of the large piano, eyes flickering thoughtfully, "I did say it before, but you really are different." He stopped and frowned. "It's not a compliment, but I'm just saying...it's true."
Squall blinked and stared into strikingly green eyes, frowning lightly and sighing noiselessly. So what if he was different?
"Okay..." The brunette mumbled.
"I mean," Seifer continued, "any other girl would have clung to me and tried to make me feel better about this whole thing with my dad...any other girl would have hated to see me mad..."
"..." Okay, Squall thought. Yay for the story of Seifer's life. Thank you, may I leave now? Because at this rate I won't even be on time for school, let alone have enough time to sleep.
"And you?" The blonde blinked up with a little perplexed frown. "You basically told me to shut up and quit whining."
Confused silver-blue eyes rose up to meet his gaze. He raised an eyebrow for lack of anything better to do then, and looked away.
"Mm." He covered his mouth with slender fingers, and took a big, much-needed yawn. Seifer chuckled at him, and he glanced sharply at the blonde with a little frown.
"See? You're not even remotely interested in what I have to say." His lopsided grin grew slightly. "It's just really weird."
Squall frowned darkly at him, mouth twisting up in disapproval. "What's so weird about not liking you?" he asked with a tiny scowl. "Take a look atyourselfbefore you call me weird."
The blonde's well formed eyebrows shot up quickly and he opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. That statement was going to stay in his mind and haunt him; he just knew it would. But he forced the stabbing words away from him for the moment and continued as if his ego hadn't just been attacked a la guerilla warfare.
"And you know what else is weird?" he continued, obviously taking Squall by at least a little surprise, "That scar."
Well, that was certainly not one on the list of things Squall had imagined Seifer would say. Okay, so he had a scar. It wasn't repulsive or very noticeable, was it?
Uh, right...sure. Not noticeable at all, except for the fact that it took up half of his face and went right down the centre of it.
"So what?" Squall said, obviously a little put off. "I'm not forcing you to look at it." He used this as a base statement to leave, and started to turn.
"True," the blonde said quickly, attempting to make Squall stay, and it sort of worked as the brunette stopped and turned back again, looking slightly irate, "but I didn't mean it's repulsive. I was just saying it's weird because...well, it looks a lot like mine."
A genuinely perplexed look crossed the brunette's face, and he walked a few tentative steps closer, squinting his eyes halfway to stare at Seifer's face, and the blonde let him. A few moments later, Squall frowned into that jade-green gaze.
"I don't see anything."
Seifer waved his wrist. "It's hard to see. You can look closer."
For the second time, Squall didn't move. He stared at Seifer's face uncertainly, as if he really wanted to locate this so-called scar, but didn't want to move any closer. This was one of those moments that the piano's playing became more strong in his conscious mind.
"Well?" Seifer blinked slowly, and Squall hesitated. He leaned forward just slightly and stepped so that they were almost 3 feet apart. Silver-blue eyes narrowed as he studied the blonde's face. In the cool moonlight, a shadow fell on it and Squall could finally see what he had been looking for.
Just barely, but it was there: a thin scar, normally well hidden in the faint tanned glow of Seifer's skin. It was a lot less noticeable than Squall's. Slowly, the brunette lifted his perplexed ice-gray, barely blue gaze from the scar to meet Seifer's look.
"I see it," he said quietly, obviously a bit more than slightly fascinated. Seifer took on a lopsided, albeit very tiny, grin.
"Kind of strange." Seifer returned quietly, leaning to one side as he sat there on the piano, slowly closing his eyes.
"...Yeah." The brunette frowned and studied Seifer's scar again. The blonde blinked open eyes of immaculate green and stared back at him.
"How old is it?" Seifer asked. He narrowed his eyes and lifted his hand up. Taking on a guarded expression, Squall made to pull away from the strong, tanned hand, but his feet froze and the piano's hypnotic melody was telling him to stay, if only for a moment.
'Move...move...'
But, unlike when Irvine had scrutinized his scar that morning, he didn't feel angry when Seifer's warm hand traced the faintly pink line between his eyes. He just felt...
Uncomfortable.
"..." Squall's delicate features twisted into a bit of a grimace but the song floating from the piano had nailed him in place.
Seifer's green eyes narrowed as his index finger barely grazed along the brunette's scar. He moved his gaze to meet Squall's questioningly.
"It's pretty old..." The blonde hummed, obviously not minding Squall's slight fidgeting. "Don't think this is going to go away."
Squall frowned in discomfort. Why couldn't he move? Was he afraid that Seifer would jump him like his dad had?
Somehow...he didn't think that was the case.
"No..." the brunette mumbled, frowning down uncertainly, just trying to look away. "It's not going to."
"Hmm." Seifer hummed again with an affirming nod. Then he pulled Squall's face up to study the scar once more. The brunette's mouth twitched. He wanted to ask the blonde to stop. Or to continue. Or...
Ah...So confused...!
"Too bad," the blonde sighed. Then he looked up into unsettled silver-blue eyes and smiled slightly. "But you know what...?"
Squall's brow twitched this time, some form of acknowledgement, for his throat and mouth were stuck in a knot and he couldn't get them to function.
"Mm." Was Squall's very own choked up version of What? Seifer's smile grew slightly.
"...I like it." The blonde finished and chuckled quietly at the brunette's muddled and confused look.
"..." Well, there wasn't much Squall could say. Thanks? Sure, it sounded right, but...it just seemed out of context.
And yet again, the tranquil melody sang through the air, just barely reaching Squall's ears as his face grew slightly warm; and he was sure that Seifer could feel it under the surprisingly soft finger that was resting on the very base of the brunette's scar. He frowned almost spasmodically.
His arm twitched and stiffened, eyes growing just slightly wider as Seifer's warm finger trailed off his scar and along the inside of his cheek by his delicate nose, tracing down slowly as strikingly green eyes insisted on focusing solely on his own turbulent pair of stormy blue. He couldn't look away, and had a very bad feeling he knew where this was leading.
Moving at an excruciatingly slow rate, the blonde, still seated on the piano, traced his finger slower and slower until it almost didn't move down Squall's face at all, and it finally stopped at the corner of the brunette's pouty lips. Silver-blue eyes clenched shut and his mouth twitched as he held back a little grimace.
And it was no sooner than Squall felt a warm breath on his mouth that he felt on them something of more substance. Seifer wasn't quite as sure of himself as Squall thought he would be, but the brunette froze under the blonde's trying, unmoving lips nonetheless. Not really a kiss...if one could call it that...but...it was something.
They stayed that way for part of a moment: Seifer leaned forward from on the piano, faintly coloured, harshly lined lips on the brunette's fuller, slightly more coloured ones. Squall stood there, losing his mind to the music yet again and almost forgetting about his situation. There was that feeling again...why did he feel like he was melting into clouds at that moment?
The brunette frowned and tore away from the not-exactly throttling or passionate kiss, putting a hand over his mouth and finding that his feet were working again. He tossed up a bit of a confused and hurt look at the blonde, and Seifer gave him much the same stare.
"Sorry..." Squall mumbled, looking away quickly and gently rubbing on his mouth, "Just...listen," He gave a kind of hopeful glance up toward Seifer and sighed soundlessly, staring into endless depth of muddled green. "I don't know...you may think that everyone should like you, but...I don't..." He struggled. "...you just...you...have to get used to it."
With a dismayed frown, Squall turned and started to walk away. Confusion and sleepiness reigned above all his emotions at that point. His face was still warm, and his mouth tasted just a little different.
And there, in the moonlight, sat Seifer atop the piano in his solitude; every note flying gently from the keys adding another layer to his confusion and his mind's disarray. He buried his face in his hands with a grunt.
"Shit," he breathed. "Why the hell did I..."
Okay, so he wasn't honestly sure what exactly he had been trying to prove. Was he attracted to this new girl, or was he just out to prove that he could have anyone he wanted? So, if Squall was right, that not every girl in the world liked him, he could deal with that. That was okay.
But the problem with that was: saxophone-playing aside, the only thing that Seifer Almasy was infinitely good at was wanting absolutely nothing but the very things he couldn't have.
-o-0-o-
SEE? SEE? DIDN'T I TELL YOU? Not fluff. More like a giant haystack of confusion with a needle of fluff thrown in it. You gotta look real hard for it. XD
When i finished writing this, I threw myself down and took a nice, 2-hour nap. Damn, that felt so freaking good /sighs happily/
I bet I scared the hell out of you guys with Seifer's dad! Aahahahahaha...oh, that was rich.../wipes a laughing tear from eye/ OH man, you should have seen your guys' faces! Priceless! xD
D': I originally thought this was going to be a short chapter. So how the fuck did it end up more than 10,000 words! You know, if I really wanted, I could just cut up my chapters and post them seperately just to get like, 5 times the reviews I currently get, but what I really want is to make you all happy and warm inside. Althought I'm not sure that's really what I'm doing. Maybe you're all really fed up with my icky writing. xD
/offers to her reviewers bottles of Trabian beer/ It's actually fresh squeezed Cactuar juice; high fiber, low pulp! Drink up!
Note: Beethoven's Sonata 8 Cmin Op13 "Pathetique"; Part 2: Adagio Cantabile/Part 3: Rondo, Allegro. I love it. It inspires me so. Call me what ya want, but Beethoven and Rachmaninov being my favourites...I do so love classical music. Listen to this song while reading the dancey scene up there and you might understand the emotion better...I mean, I don't communicate this sensation through words very well. It's...breahtaking and I wish the whole world could feel it /such a sucker for beethoven/
Too bad there can't be a Beethoven songfic /snorts/ maybe i should write lyrics for him...XD
(Whisper...I don't have a beta reader. Do you think I need one? I am unsure if this needs to be edited. D':)