Title: A Knight, a Lion, and a Little Messenger Girl
Chapter 2: Puddles of Sarcasm
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the FFVIII Characters, etc.
Enjoy the second installment of this story!
The train door opened and Selphie rushed on board. Seifer walked in a little while after her to see her standing by another closed door.
"Open!" she yelled at it. Seifer raised an annoyed, yet curious eyebrow at her. She turned around and looked at him, "You don't know the drill do you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.
"You put the ticket into the computer there, and then... Presto! The door opens!" she bounced on her heels, "...Pleeeease?"
He rolled his eyes, "If I do it, will you shut up?" She nodded happily. He let out an annoyed sigh and put the ticket into the computer.
A minute later the door opened. Selphie punched her fist into the air, "Whoo-hoo! Thanks, Seifer!" She ran into the next room and took her usual spot looking out the window as the land passed.
Seifer rolled his eyes, then said to his self, "How can she get so damn excited over something so stupid?" He shook his head, and then walked into the room after her.
She was looking eagerly out the window humming to herself as he stood beside her. "Isn't this great?" she asked, noticing he was there.
He raised an eyebrow at her. He was going to insult her in some way, but didn't want to travel with an angry Selphie, so he thought he'd humor her instead, "Uh, yeah...sure." He then turned and entered the special room for SeeDs. He plopped down on the sofa and leaned back, closing his eyes. He could already tell this was going to be a long trip.
A few minutes later Selphie entered the room and sat beside him on the couch bouncing up and down happily. "Jeezus, will you just relax!" he said, opening an eye. "You're shaking the whole freakin' train." She stuck her tongue out at him, and then turned around to kneel on the sofa, looking out the window behind Seifer. He leaned up slightly and felt himself compelled to look at her backside. He scanned her up and down, actually noticing how short that dress of hers really was. He raised an amused eyebrow, and laughed to himself.
She turned her head and looked over at him, "What's so funny?"
He shook his head, "Oh, nothing, little messenger girl."
She sighed and stuck her tongue out at him once more, which only caused him to laugh more.
*~*
After a few hours, an announcement rang out through the train. "We will be arriving just outside the town of Winhill in a few moments. Those getting off, please prepare for departure."
Selphie jumped up from the couch, "Whoo-hoo!"
"Yeah, it's about damn time." Seifer said, "Another hour with you on this train and I would have used the bed sheets over there to hang myself."
Selphie's mouth dropped open and was about to say something in response, but instead, she sighed, deciding it was best not to encourage more insulting. They felt the train come to a rickety stop. She skipped out of the room, down the hallway and out of the train. He watched her excitedly run out and he smirked to himself, following after her.
He stepped off the train to see her standing there with her hands on her hips waiting for him. "You're such a slow poke!" she said to him.
He rolled his eyes; ignoring her comment, "Let's just get this over with."
She nodded, getting out her nunchakus that were clipped to one of the belt loops on her dress. He already had his gunblade swung over his shoulder. Together, they walked into the quiet town of Winhill. But, it wasn't so quiet anymore.
Selphie let out a gasp as she saw bodies of the townspeople strewn about across the streets and the proud Galbadian soldiers standing over them. She furrowed her eyebrows. Not only were there soldiers everywhere, the monster population seemed to have gotten out of control. How could they do this to such a quiet town?
Seifer looked down at Selphie, who didn't seem as happy-go-lucky as she usually did. She seemed deeply troubled by this sight, "Come on, messenger girl. There's no use getting upset over this. It's not your fault." She looked up at him sadly and nodded, though a little confused as to why Seifer was trying to comfort her.
As soon as they took a few steps into the town, the soldiers spotted them. "Are you ready for this?" Seifer asked, quietly.
"Yes, I totally am!" she replied to him firmly. Selphie and Seifer got into their battle stances as the soldiers and numerous monsters attacked them. *~* Selphie wiped the perspiration that had collected on her forehead during the many hours of battle the two had just endured. "Phew...I'm exhausted!"
Seifer looked around, unimpressed. "That's all? Well, I thought they would've been tougher. Especially with all that training I gave 'em. Eh, I guess people just don't listen to my wonderful techniques. That's too bad..."
Selphie looked up at Seifer, tiredly, "Let's just go get a room at the hotel. I need to lay down or eat something."
Seifer shrugged his shoulders; "I hope you brought some money with you..."
She rolled her eyes and dug into her back pocket, taking out some of the gil she had brought with her just in case. "Don't worry. I have some!" They walked down the street, Selphie slightly lagging behind, to the hotel. They entered the building and approached the desk. "Two rooms please!" Selphie said to the receptionist.
"Oh, I'm sorry...we only have one room available...and there is only one bed in the room. Is that okay for the two of you?"
Selphie put her hand to her forehead, glancing back at Seifer. He grinned down at her wolfishly. She sighed, "That's fine...I'll deal." The woman handed her the key to the room and she headed upstairs, Seifer right behind her.
She opened the door and skipped in, plopping down on the bed. "Wow! This bed is so comfortable and this room is so nice!"
Seifer closed the door behind him, walking over to Selphie and looking down at her. "Yeah, this room is pretty nice. Especially for such a shitty town like this."
Selphie sat up and looked upwards at him, "Hey, this town is pretty and nice and stuff!"
He laughed, "And stuff? Did you think up that one all on your own?"
She clenched her fists together, looking up at him angrily, "Seifer! Do you always have to be *so* mean to me?!"
Seifer looked away from her, ignoring her question, "So, how are we gonna get some food in this place?"
She sighed, lying back on the bed, "I don't know...order room service?"
He looked down at her, "Wow, good job, messenger girl. You actually have a good idea."
Selphie rolled her eyes again, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Seifer."
"Ooh, watch it, messenger girl, you're starting to sound like Squall," he said, sarcastically, although she didn't take it as an insult.
Selphie giggled to herself, "I guess I've just been hanging around with him a lot. He's starting to reflect on me...I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing."
He raised an eyebrow, "It's probably a bad thing. You don't want to turn into puberty boy. Then, I'd have to call you 'puberty girl'."
She sat up, "Don't call him that!"
"Whoa...I struck a nerve, huh?"
"Just be quiet, you-you...mean guy!" she said, standing up with her hands on her hips.
Seifer looked her up and down, laughing. "I can see you're very protective of Mr. Puberty."
"N-no! It's not that...he's just my friend. I don't want to hear you talking bad about my friends."
"Sure, Selphie. Everyone knows you have a mad crush on him," he said casually, sitting on the bed.
She turned around, throwing her arms down angrily, but also blushing. "You...you don't know that!"
He smirked, "The fact that you're blushing just proves my point."
She sighed, feeling exasperated by this point. She really just wanted to lie down and take a nap. But, of course, Seifer had to make that as inconvenient as possible. He reached up, grabbing her arm, and pulled her down to sit next to him. "You can't lie to me. You're horrible at it," he said to her.
She pulled her arm away from his grasp and looked out towards the window. "Why would you care if I liked him, anyway?" she asked, after a beat.
"Eh, no reason...I just hear stuff from people," Seifer replied.
She glanced at him, "Oh...I see."
He raised an eyebrow, "So do you or don't you?"
Selphie sighed, lying backwards, "Yeah, I do..."
He looked down at her, "Then, why don't you do something about it? Squall's a dumbass. You can't just expect him to notice that you like him."
She closed her eyes, "I can't tell him... I like him too much as a friend to risk anything."
He smirked, "Yeah, right. I can tell that's not it."
She reached up and put her hands on her forehead, pushing her bangs up, "Okay, fine. It's because of Rinny. I don't want to break them up."
He leaned back, "Her? You're worried about that bitch of his?" He laughed, "Hyne, he would be happy to get rid of her and have you instead."
She shook her head, "No, they're good together. I wouldn't want to split them up..."
"Shut up, Selphie. You know Squall is a dumbass. You just can't say it 'cause he's your 'friend'," he motioned the last word with his fingers.
"Well, he is my friend!" She said, putting her arms back down.
"Messenger girl, he treats you like shit. I don't even see why you like him..." he shook his head, looking away from her.
"I don't know...I-I just do!" Selphie sighed, "A-and I don't see why you even care, so... so there!"
He looked down at her and laughed for a moment. He noticed how tired she looked, "Fine, fine. I'll let you rest. I... just don't want to see you get hurt," he said the last part quietly.
She opened her eyes immediately and sat up, meeting his eyes with her own that were full of confusion, "You don't?"
He flinched slightly, looking down for a moment, and then meeting her sparkling green eyes, "Well, uh...I just mean...your extreme happiness about everything seems to keep almost everyone in a good mood. I don't know what the hell would happen to everyone if you were depressed about something."
She smiled happily at him, bouncing slightly on the bed.
He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her curiously, "What now?"
She continued to smile at him, "You were nice! You said something nice to me! Well, sort of nice... A-and it was just cool. I should record this moment in history!"
He looked away from her and stood up, "I'm going to get food. Just be quiet and go to sleep or something."
Selphie stuck out her bottom lip in a pout as Seifer got up and walked to the window. She sighed and lied back down onto the bed, facing the other direction. She sighed softly, closing her eyes as she felt herself becoming sleepy. He turned around and looked at her. He felt his own stomach growling, and he groaned, leaving the room to find some food.
*~*
The aroma of hot dogs filled Selphie's nose, and she awoke. She rolled over and saw Seifer sitting in a chair stuffing his face with hot dogs. She sat up and looked at Seifer, who didn't seem to notice that she was awake. "I hope you're going to save me at least one of those."
He glanced at her, "I probably should since I used your money to pay for all of this."
Her mouth dropped open, and she walked over to him, hands on her hips. "Seifer...!" She groaned, and then snatched one of his hot dogs, gobbling it down.
He laughed at her, "Jeez, messenger girl, you eat like a guy."
She ignored his comment and continued to eat happily, looking out the window.
A couple more hours passed... It was now dark outside as Selphie looked out the window. It was probably quite late by now. She turned to look at Seifer who was looking through a weapons magazine that had been on the nightstand. "So, who's going to sleep where for the night?"
Seifer looked up from the magazine, taking off his coat. He then patted the bed beside him, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
She looked appalled and yelled, "I'm not sharing a bed with you!"
He sighed, shaking his head, "That's too bad. I guess you'll just be sleeping on the floor."
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened, "You're going to make me, a cute little girl, sleep on the cold, uncomfortable floor!?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do." He picked up the extra pillow and pulled off the comforter, throwing it into a heap on the floor at her feet. She looked at him, feeling defeated, and sighed loudly. She mumbled something he couldn't understand as she carefully made herself a small bed with the comforter and pillow on the floor. He watched her, lying down on his side, pulling the less heavy blanket over him. She lied on her back, looking up at the bare ceiling. After a while of shifting herself on the hard floor, her eyelids fell heavily, and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Seifer could not sleep, though. A few quiet sighs escaped his lips as he tossed and turned. He wondered if he Selphie was still awake. Some of her babbling would sure enough put him to sleep quickly. He turned over and scooted himself to the edge of the bed. He leaned over to look down at her. She was curled up in ball, shivering. But...at the same time, she looked so peaceful. A stray hair was carelessly lying across her face. He couldn't help but reach down and gently push it out of the way. The side of his hand had grazed her cheek and he noticed how cold her soft skin was. He furrowed his eyebrows, 'Maybe I should have let her sleep on the bed...' he thought. He shrugged, 'Oh well, too late now.' He saw that she was still shivering, even though she had the cover pulled up around her all the way. He frowned, looking around. He then spotted his coat lying across the bed and grabbed it. Then, he leaned down and carefully placed it over her. She made a soft sigh sound and he saw a small smile form on her lips. He felt a smile forming on his own lips as he watched her sleep for a moment. He quickly shook his head, lying back down and turning around to face away from her. He closed his eyes, trying not to think about the little messenger girl asleep about a foot away from him. Finally, he let sleep take him.
*~*
"Selphie! Selphie, wake up!"
Seifer called to her as he stood looking out the window. She slowly opened her eyes, reaching up to rub them. She saw his coat around her, and she furrowed her eyebrows. She looked over at him, tilting her head slightly. "...Seifer?" she asked, sleepily.
Just then a loud explosion rang out throughout the town. "Oh, shit!" Seifer yelled, ducking down. The building across the street exploded as a giant Galbadian tank rampaged through the town. The glass of the window shattered onto Seifer's back.
"Seifer!" Selphie's eyes grew wide as she slipped out of her bed quickly and stood up, "What's happening!?"
"Damn Galbadians are back...." He looked to her, standing back up "And they brought reinforcements."
She ran up to the window, her mouth dropping open, "Oh, no! We have to go stop them!"
He nodded, brushing the glass off of himself and picked up his jacket from the floor, slipping it on quickly. She pulled on her boots, checking the bottoms, and then picked up her nunchakus. She turned to Seifer as he picked up his gunblade. They met each other's gaze and nodded. She ran towards the door, swinging it open and running out. Seifer followed behind her closely.
They came out of the hotel to see the damage was much worse this time... More dead bodies, but the monsters were scarce. The explosions from the tank scared most of them off. The tank was approaching them, and then stopped as the soldiers inside saw the two fighters ready for a battle. "Show them no mercy!" said the lead soldier to the others inside the tank.
Selphie glanced at Seifer nervously. This thing was huge. Sure, she had faced some rather large enemies, but she hadn't done that for a very long time. It also didn't help that the ruthless Galbadian soldiers were controlling this huge tank.
But, Seifer didn't waste any time. He struck the tank a few times with his gunblade, but sadly, didn't cause much damage to it. Selphie cast a thunder spell on it as she remembered thunder is the most powerful spell against machine-like enemies. It damaged the tank pretty well. She smiled happily to Seifer.
"Good one," he said to her. "Do it again...we can hold 'em off if you keep at it."
She nodded and went to cast another spell. As the thunder struck the tank, it fired a bomb at her. It knocked her into her stomach and caused her to fly back many feet. She fell to hard ground almost silently. Seifer waited for a moment, expecting her to get up, but she didn't. He looked back. She hadn't moved from where she fell. "No...dammit!" He quickly cast the stop spell on the tank. That would buy him a few minutes.
He rushed over to Selphie. Her eyes were closed, and she looked lifeless. Her dress and the ends of her hair were slightly charred from the explosion. "Shit...this isn't happening..." He put his fingers to her neck; he felt a slow pulse. "At least she's still alive...I just don't know for how long." He furrowed his eyebrows, using his best cure magic to wake her. Nothing worked. "Dammit, Selphie! ...Don't do this...not now..."
~To be continued...
Okay, that's the end of the second chapter. Thanks for being patient and I'll try to write the 3rd chapter as soon as possible! This was a pretty long chapter, so enjoy the cliffhanger! ^_^ Thanks! Also, thank you to my friend, you know who you are, who helped me with the title of the chapter, lols.
Chapter 2: Puddles of Sarcasm
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the FFVIII Characters, etc.
Enjoy the second installment of this story!
The train door opened and Selphie rushed on board. Seifer walked in a little while after her to see her standing by another closed door.
"Open!" she yelled at it. Seifer raised an annoyed, yet curious eyebrow at her. She turned around and looked at him, "You don't know the drill do you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.
"You put the ticket into the computer there, and then... Presto! The door opens!" she bounced on her heels, "...Pleeeease?"
He rolled his eyes, "If I do it, will you shut up?" She nodded happily. He let out an annoyed sigh and put the ticket into the computer.
A minute later the door opened. Selphie punched her fist into the air, "Whoo-hoo! Thanks, Seifer!" She ran into the next room and took her usual spot looking out the window as the land passed.
Seifer rolled his eyes, then said to his self, "How can she get so damn excited over something so stupid?" He shook his head, and then walked into the room after her.
She was looking eagerly out the window humming to herself as he stood beside her. "Isn't this great?" she asked, noticing he was there.
He raised an eyebrow at her. He was going to insult her in some way, but didn't want to travel with an angry Selphie, so he thought he'd humor her instead, "Uh, yeah...sure." He then turned and entered the special room for SeeDs. He plopped down on the sofa and leaned back, closing his eyes. He could already tell this was going to be a long trip.
A few minutes later Selphie entered the room and sat beside him on the couch bouncing up and down happily. "Jeezus, will you just relax!" he said, opening an eye. "You're shaking the whole freakin' train." She stuck her tongue out at him, and then turned around to kneel on the sofa, looking out the window behind Seifer. He leaned up slightly and felt himself compelled to look at her backside. He scanned her up and down, actually noticing how short that dress of hers really was. He raised an amused eyebrow, and laughed to himself.
She turned her head and looked over at him, "What's so funny?"
He shook his head, "Oh, nothing, little messenger girl."
She sighed and stuck her tongue out at him once more, which only caused him to laugh more.
*~*
After a few hours, an announcement rang out through the train. "We will be arriving just outside the town of Winhill in a few moments. Those getting off, please prepare for departure."
Selphie jumped up from the couch, "Whoo-hoo!"
"Yeah, it's about damn time." Seifer said, "Another hour with you on this train and I would have used the bed sheets over there to hang myself."
Selphie's mouth dropped open and was about to say something in response, but instead, she sighed, deciding it was best not to encourage more insulting. They felt the train come to a rickety stop. She skipped out of the room, down the hallway and out of the train. He watched her excitedly run out and he smirked to himself, following after her.
He stepped off the train to see her standing there with her hands on her hips waiting for him. "You're such a slow poke!" she said to him.
He rolled his eyes; ignoring her comment, "Let's just get this over with."
She nodded, getting out her nunchakus that were clipped to one of the belt loops on her dress. He already had his gunblade swung over his shoulder. Together, they walked into the quiet town of Winhill. But, it wasn't so quiet anymore.
Selphie let out a gasp as she saw bodies of the townspeople strewn about across the streets and the proud Galbadian soldiers standing over them. She furrowed her eyebrows. Not only were there soldiers everywhere, the monster population seemed to have gotten out of control. How could they do this to such a quiet town?
Seifer looked down at Selphie, who didn't seem as happy-go-lucky as she usually did. She seemed deeply troubled by this sight, "Come on, messenger girl. There's no use getting upset over this. It's not your fault." She looked up at him sadly and nodded, though a little confused as to why Seifer was trying to comfort her.
As soon as they took a few steps into the town, the soldiers spotted them. "Are you ready for this?" Seifer asked, quietly.
"Yes, I totally am!" she replied to him firmly. Selphie and Seifer got into their battle stances as the soldiers and numerous monsters attacked them. *~* Selphie wiped the perspiration that had collected on her forehead during the many hours of battle the two had just endured. "Phew...I'm exhausted!"
Seifer looked around, unimpressed. "That's all? Well, I thought they would've been tougher. Especially with all that training I gave 'em. Eh, I guess people just don't listen to my wonderful techniques. That's too bad..."
Selphie looked up at Seifer, tiredly, "Let's just go get a room at the hotel. I need to lay down or eat something."
Seifer shrugged his shoulders; "I hope you brought some money with you..."
She rolled her eyes and dug into her back pocket, taking out some of the gil she had brought with her just in case. "Don't worry. I have some!" They walked down the street, Selphie slightly lagging behind, to the hotel. They entered the building and approached the desk. "Two rooms please!" Selphie said to the receptionist.
"Oh, I'm sorry...we only have one room available...and there is only one bed in the room. Is that okay for the two of you?"
Selphie put her hand to her forehead, glancing back at Seifer. He grinned down at her wolfishly. She sighed, "That's fine...I'll deal." The woman handed her the key to the room and she headed upstairs, Seifer right behind her.
She opened the door and skipped in, plopping down on the bed. "Wow! This bed is so comfortable and this room is so nice!"
Seifer closed the door behind him, walking over to Selphie and looking down at her. "Yeah, this room is pretty nice. Especially for such a shitty town like this."
Selphie sat up and looked upwards at him, "Hey, this town is pretty and nice and stuff!"
He laughed, "And stuff? Did you think up that one all on your own?"
She clenched her fists together, looking up at him angrily, "Seifer! Do you always have to be *so* mean to me?!"
Seifer looked away from her, ignoring her question, "So, how are we gonna get some food in this place?"
She sighed, lying back on the bed, "I don't know...order room service?"
He looked down at her, "Wow, good job, messenger girl. You actually have a good idea."
Selphie rolled her eyes again, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Seifer."
"Ooh, watch it, messenger girl, you're starting to sound like Squall," he said, sarcastically, although she didn't take it as an insult.
Selphie giggled to herself, "I guess I've just been hanging around with him a lot. He's starting to reflect on me...I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing."
He raised an eyebrow, "It's probably a bad thing. You don't want to turn into puberty boy. Then, I'd have to call you 'puberty girl'."
She sat up, "Don't call him that!"
"Whoa...I struck a nerve, huh?"
"Just be quiet, you-you...mean guy!" she said, standing up with her hands on her hips.
Seifer looked her up and down, laughing. "I can see you're very protective of Mr. Puberty."
"N-no! It's not that...he's just my friend. I don't want to hear you talking bad about my friends."
"Sure, Selphie. Everyone knows you have a mad crush on him," he said casually, sitting on the bed.
She turned around, throwing her arms down angrily, but also blushing. "You...you don't know that!"
He smirked, "The fact that you're blushing just proves my point."
She sighed, feeling exasperated by this point. She really just wanted to lie down and take a nap. But, of course, Seifer had to make that as inconvenient as possible. He reached up, grabbing her arm, and pulled her down to sit next to him. "You can't lie to me. You're horrible at it," he said to her.
She pulled her arm away from his grasp and looked out towards the window. "Why would you care if I liked him, anyway?" she asked, after a beat.
"Eh, no reason...I just hear stuff from people," Seifer replied.
She glanced at him, "Oh...I see."
He raised an eyebrow, "So do you or don't you?"
Selphie sighed, lying backwards, "Yeah, I do..."
He looked down at her, "Then, why don't you do something about it? Squall's a dumbass. You can't just expect him to notice that you like him."
She closed her eyes, "I can't tell him... I like him too much as a friend to risk anything."
He smirked, "Yeah, right. I can tell that's not it."
She reached up and put her hands on her forehead, pushing her bangs up, "Okay, fine. It's because of Rinny. I don't want to break them up."
He leaned back, "Her? You're worried about that bitch of his?" He laughed, "Hyne, he would be happy to get rid of her and have you instead."
She shook her head, "No, they're good together. I wouldn't want to split them up..."
"Shut up, Selphie. You know Squall is a dumbass. You just can't say it 'cause he's your 'friend'," he motioned the last word with his fingers.
"Well, he is my friend!" She said, putting her arms back down.
"Messenger girl, he treats you like shit. I don't even see why you like him..." he shook his head, looking away from her.
"I don't know...I-I just do!" Selphie sighed, "A-and I don't see why you even care, so... so there!"
He looked down at her and laughed for a moment. He noticed how tired she looked, "Fine, fine. I'll let you rest. I... just don't want to see you get hurt," he said the last part quietly.
She opened her eyes immediately and sat up, meeting his eyes with her own that were full of confusion, "You don't?"
He flinched slightly, looking down for a moment, and then meeting her sparkling green eyes, "Well, uh...I just mean...your extreme happiness about everything seems to keep almost everyone in a good mood. I don't know what the hell would happen to everyone if you were depressed about something."
She smiled happily at him, bouncing slightly on the bed.
He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her curiously, "What now?"
She continued to smile at him, "You were nice! You said something nice to me! Well, sort of nice... A-and it was just cool. I should record this moment in history!"
He looked away from her and stood up, "I'm going to get food. Just be quiet and go to sleep or something."
Selphie stuck out her bottom lip in a pout as Seifer got up and walked to the window. She sighed and lied back down onto the bed, facing the other direction. She sighed softly, closing her eyes as she felt herself becoming sleepy. He turned around and looked at her. He felt his own stomach growling, and he groaned, leaving the room to find some food.
*~*
The aroma of hot dogs filled Selphie's nose, and she awoke. She rolled over and saw Seifer sitting in a chair stuffing his face with hot dogs. She sat up and looked at Seifer, who didn't seem to notice that she was awake. "I hope you're going to save me at least one of those."
He glanced at her, "I probably should since I used your money to pay for all of this."
Her mouth dropped open, and she walked over to him, hands on her hips. "Seifer...!" She groaned, and then snatched one of his hot dogs, gobbling it down.
He laughed at her, "Jeez, messenger girl, you eat like a guy."
She ignored his comment and continued to eat happily, looking out the window.
A couple more hours passed... It was now dark outside as Selphie looked out the window. It was probably quite late by now. She turned to look at Seifer who was looking through a weapons magazine that had been on the nightstand. "So, who's going to sleep where for the night?"
Seifer looked up from the magazine, taking off his coat. He then patted the bed beside him, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
She looked appalled and yelled, "I'm not sharing a bed with you!"
He sighed, shaking his head, "That's too bad. I guess you'll just be sleeping on the floor."
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened, "You're going to make me, a cute little girl, sleep on the cold, uncomfortable floor!?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do." He picked up the extra pillow and pulled off the comforter, throwing it into a heap on the floor at her feet. She looked at him, feeling defeated, and sighed loudly. She mumbled something he couldn't understand as she carefully made herself a small bed with the comforter and pillow on the floor. He watched her, lying down on his side, pulling the less heavy blanket over him. She lied on her back, looking up at the bare ceiling. After a while of shifting herself on the hard floor, her eyelids fell heavily, and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Seifer could not sleep, though. A few quiet sighs escaped his lips as he tossed and turned. He wondered if he Selphie was still awake. Some of her babbling would sure enough put him to sleep quickly. He turned over and scooted himself to the edge of the bed. He leaned over to look down at her. She was curled up in ball, shivering. But...at the same time, she looked so peaceful. A stray hair was carelessly lying across her face. He couldn't help but reach down and gently push it out of the way. The side of his hand had grazed her cheek and he noticed how cold her soft skin was. He furrowed his eyebrows, 'Maybe I should have let her sleep on the bed...' he thought. He shrugged, 'Oh well, too late now.' He saw that she was still shivering, even though she had the cover pulled up around her all the way. He frowned, looking around. He then spotted his coat lying across the bed and grabbed it. Then, he leaned down and carefully placed it over her. She made a soft sigh sound and he saw a small smile form on her lips. He felt a smile forming on his own lips as he watched her sleep for a moment. He quickly shook his head, lying back down and turning around to face away from her. He closed his eyes, trying not to think about the little messenger girl asleep about a foot away from him. Finally, he let sleep take him.
*~*
"Selphie! Selphie, wake up!"
Seifer called to her as he stood looking out the window. She slowly opened her eyes, reaching up to rub them. She saw his coat around her, and she furrowed her eyebrows. She looked over at him, tilting her head slightly. "...Seifer?" she asked, sleepily.
Just then a loud explosion rang out throughout the town. "Oh, shit!" Seifer yelled, ducking down. The building across the street exploded as a giant Galbadian tank rampaged through the town. The glass of the window shattered onto Seifer's back.
"Seifer!" Selphie's eyes grew wide as she slipped out of her bed quickly and stood up, "What's happening!?"
"Damn Galbadians are back...." He looked to her, standing back up "And they brought reinforcements."
She ran up to the window, her mouth dropping open, "Oh, no! We have to go stop them!"
He nodded, brushing the glass off of himself and picked up his jacket from the floor, slipping it on quickly. She pulled on her boots, checking the bottoms, and then picked up her nunchakus. She turned to Seifer as he picked up his gunblade. They met each other's gaze and nodded. She ran towards the door, swinging it open and running out. Seifer followed behind her closely.
They came out of the hotel to see the damage was much worse this time... More dead bodies, but the monsters were scarce. The explosions from the tank scared most of them off. The tank was approaching them, and then stopped as the soldiers inside saw the two fighters ready for a battle. "Show them no mercy!" said the lead soldier to the others inside the tank.
Selphie glanced at Seifer nervously. This thing was huge. Sure, she had faced some rather large enemies, but she hadn't done that for a very long time. It also didn't help that the ruthless Galbadian soldiers were controlling this huge tank.
But, Seifer didn't waste any time. He struck the tank a few times with his gunblade, but sadly, didn't cause much damage to it. Selphie cast a thunder spell on it as she remembered thunder is the most powerful spell against machine-like enemies. It damaged the tank pretty well. She smiled happily to Seifer.
"Good one," he said to her. "Do it again...we can hold 'em off if you keep at it."
She nodded and went to cast another spell. As the thunder struck the tank, it fired a bomb at her. It knocked her into her stomach and caused her to fly back many feet. She fell to hard ground almost silently. Seifer waited for a moment, expecting her to get up, but she didn't. He looked back. She hadn't moved from where she fell. "No...dammit!" He quickly cast the stop spell on the tank. That would buy him a few minutes.
He rushed over to Selphie. Her eyes were closed, and she looked lifeless. Her dress and the ends of her hair were slightly charred from the explosion. "Shit...this isn't happening..." He put his fingers to her neck; he felt a slow pulse. "At least she's still alive...I just don't know for how long." He furrowed his eyebrows, using his best cure magic to wake her. Nothing worked. "Dammit, Selphie! ...Don't do this...not now..."
~To be continued...
Okay, that's the end of the second chapter. Thanks for being patient and I'll try to write the 3rd chapter as soon as possible! This was a pretty long chapter, so enjoy the cliffhanger! ^_^ Thanks! Also, thank you to my friend, you know who you are, who helped me with the title of the chapter, lols.