IMPORTANT Author's Notes: This is the CENSORED version of Chapter 4! For the real, the uncensored version, please go to linking doesn't seem to work in actual chapters, so please go to my profile for the URL! (alternatively, go to adultfanfiction yourself and look for the penname Cosina Veloce (with underslash) manually, if linking in a profile doesn't work EITHER OO)
This chapter was intented to be read WITH the graphic sex scene it contains. I dislike censorship, so I advise you to go read the real version, unless you dislike reading sex, in which case you're better off reading the mild version.
Thanks a million for reviewing and please enjoy the conclusion of Melancholy Requiem. (until the epilogue, that is..)
Melancholy Requiem
by Cosina Veloce
Chapter 4: ... now
Squall barely had time to let the situation really sink in before he heard the screeching sound of the bird monster attacking, and in a split of a second, Squall standing totally beside himself, he instinctively did a dodge roll, feeling the swish of the attacking bird missing him by a mere foot, the long, yellow beak of the monster missing his arm by even less than that. The bird monster yelled in frustration, and it turned his beady little eyes to fully look at Squall, opening its throat for another one of its unnerving, screeching yells. The monster was purple, save for some yellow pattering and eerily glowing, yellow eyes that were leering at Squall with nothing short of cruelty.
Squall had never seen a monster before.
Some of them lived in Balamb Plains, sure enough. Sometimes he had heard strange sounds coming from bushes, sure; but never, ever had he come face to face with a violent monster, with its claws glinting in the afternoon sun and its eyes spilling blood and murder at the young man. Having acted on mere instinct, Squall was horrified to see the monster. His cool exterior had shattered. Squall could almost visualize the cold sheet of ice covering his body, having shattered into million glittering pieces as silent, cold fear gripped him. Actual real, penetrating, dominating fear.
Squall could taste his heartbeat at the back of his throat as he saw, in just the most fleeting of moments, the monster making attempts to go for another tackle, and Squall, acting on mere instinct and adrenaline – pure, real adrenaline pumping through his veins like hot, purifying acid – jumped forward, hearing the bird's annoyed whimper as it has missed its prey yet again and Squall landed hard on the floor, hitting his head, his face momentarily buried in snow. Millions of tiny needles pinched into his face, the fall dazing his mind. It felt like his brain cells were dissolving into water as the pain, the shock and the adrenaline all became too much to bear, and he clumsily stumbled on his feet as fast as he could to turn to the monster, which was meeting his gaze openly. He flinched, his feet suddenly frozen to the spot.
For a horrible moment, maybe a split second, maybe a whole second, maybe several minutes, the Thrust Avis and Squall stared at each other. Squall felt the hot blood pumping inside him and then the moment he had feared came; the bird's back buckled, it opened its mouth into another horrible war scream, commenced flying at Squall -
-and Squall, stupidly rooted to his spot, saw a mass of white or beige entangling with the purple and yellow of the Thrust Avis, and he heard an awful blop sound and the bird's frantic scream of pain. A man's panting was mixed into it, and more yells from the fighting bird, and Squall, whose visions had finally cleared itself, saw Seifer pointing a long blade at the bird, his stance light-footed, his face a grimace of hate. Shifting his gaze to the monster, Squall saw that it was bleeding frantically, having difficulty to stay in the air as it made small tortured noises. Seifer advanced to, as Squall assumed, take of a wing completely, but the bird, still so quick though so very injured, dodged the hit and screeched loudly, though differently than it had before. Seifer grumbled something under his breath and frantically looked around as though waiting for something and really – Squall was amazed to see a little bolt of electricity, seemingly coming out of nowhere, lunging directly at the blonde fighter, who, having spotted it early enough, angrily dodged it with two sidesteps.
The monster retreated slightly, leaving some space between itself and the human fighter and Squall held his breath, still feeling the adrenaline run through him, but it suddenly felt different. Squall couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something.. something about this horrifying, this gruelling, this bloody and scary situation was undeniably... pulling him towards itself. Biting down on his lower lip until Squall could taste blood, he frantically looked around for something he could use to help Seifer, his eyes falling onto a wooden stick descarted in his vicinity and without thinking it over, he grabbed it and ran towards the monster, not knowing what the heck he was doing, not knowing anything at that moment, nothing but how it just felt so right. How he felt so alive.
"Wait... don't!" he heard Seifer scream behind him, but it didn't matter to Squall that instant. Nothing mattered.
The bird, which had noticed Squall running towards it, flexed his beady gaze on Squall, trying to look intimating, but Squall crossed the distance between them sooner than the monster might've anticipated. With a grim, but utterly satisfied sigh, Squall aimed and, with a sound that reverbrated through his skull, his body, his whole being, the hit actually landed against the bird's skull. It howled in pain and swirled, fighting to keep itself in the air, and Squall, in a frenzy, wanted to hit again, wanted to kill the pathetic little thing, but he felt a strong, purposeful hand on his arm, holding him back. Looking around to see who dared to intrude, he looked into the green depths of Seifer's eyes, who was holding him back firmly, his blade – his gunblade, Squall remembered – clasped tightly between his hand. He shoved Squall aside powerfully and the brunette who was without a doubt the physically smaller of the two, stumbled a couple of feet backwards, clutching tightly to the piece of wood as though it was a safety rope.
He immediately wanted to attack the monster again, but Seifer positioned himself so that Squall was blocked from the bird's sight, and he heard the sound he'd heard again, just know he could identify it – it was sound of Seifer's gunblade cutting into the flesh of the Thrust Avis. Beckoning closer to the battle, Squall suddenly stopped when he felt wetness slithering down his face, his neck, and he looked up, seeing thick raindrops fall down onto his head. Calmly, Squall watched the darkening sky, watched the rain slowly falling, the scenery accompanied by the battle noises both Seifer and the bird were making. Shifting his gaze back to the battle, the brunette lavished into the adrenaline flaring up again, and he decided to sprint to the battle again. As though possessed, he ran to Seifer's side, stick high in the air, ready to beat the living hell out of that monster which had so daringly interrupted their peaceful picnic. Seifer just glared at the brunette with a look that suggested murder and before Squall had time to react he saw how with one final, hard blow, Seifer's gunblade swished down and expertly decapitated the bird.
Its body fell to the floor with a soft thumb, muffled by the snow. Crimson blood spilled into the snow, giving it a pinkish colour. The rain which had started to pour down on the earth had already started to wash the snow away, to let the dead monster rot and embrace it to its next stop in the circle of life. Squall stared at the dead thing.
His thoughts tripping over one another, still high on so much adrenaline that he wanted to burst with it, he jumped visibly as Seifer softly touched his arm. Facing the other man, looking into his passionate eyes, Squall did the only thing that felt right that second. He grabbed Seifer's neck and demandingly, almost violently, pulled him down into a kiss, feeling Seifer's lips, which were cool from the rain, and the hot, burning insides of his mouth, his wonderful, wet tongue. The contrast of the cool dampness of the rain, Squall's wet bangs clinging to his equally wet forehead and Seifer's busy tongue inside him could not have been more enticing, and Squall moaned lowly into Seifer's mouth, wrapping both of his arms around the taller man, pushing him tighter to his shivering body. Squall wanted more. More of Seifer's tongue. More of Seifer's body. Tightening the grip around the other man's neck, he border-line violent crushed his mouth against the other man's, pushing his tongue as far into the blonde's mouth as it would go, tasting and feeling the very insides of the other's hot, stimulating mouth. Squall then started to circle Seifer's tongue, but not softly or playfully, but with force, rubbing their tongues together hardly and purposefully. Squall felt Seifer's hands travelling down his body, squeezing his butt through his pants, and Squall quietly moaned.
Suddenly, Seifer tried to push away, but Squall didn't want to let him. He didn't want this moment to be broken like the time they had kissed on that hotel's roof, ruined like that time he had received a hand job at that lock picked room, ruined like the many times Squall had felt like kissing the other man, but had not dared to. This moment, with his system so overloaded by the emotions he had missed for so long that it seemed like a fucking eternity, was so perfect that he didn't want to let go. Muffling and struggling, Seifer finally managed to tear his mouth free from Squall's hungry, demanding one and he looked at the brunette with dark arousal evident in his eyes.
"Car?" the blonde asked quietly.
Squall merely shook his head, hungrily searching for the other man's mouth again, not caring about the rain. He would not let this moment be broken like all the others, so he searched for Seifer's lips again. The blonde seemed to have given in to Squall's demand. He reciprocated the kiss and hugged the other man tightly, pressing his lower body against Squall, letting him feel his erection. The brunette felt a hot wave of need souring through his body at the hardness and purposefulness of the blonde's body.
Tugging at each other's clothes they somehow, magically, found the blanket they had spread out on the floor again, and Seifer roughly pushed Squall down on it. The brunette complied willingly, tearing and tugging at the blonde's shirt who was now on top of him, wanting the fabric out of the way to feel the hard, defined muscle of Seifer's so very mature body. Seifer broke the kiss just long enough to dispose of his jacket, the shirt following suit, leaving his upper body naked and entirely exposed to the softly falling rain. Squall felt a slight shiver of cold go down Seifer's spine, so the brunette started to rub and massage his naked back, producing warmth for the shivering blonde. Running his hands over the blonde's defined back muscles, skin hard and smooth, he eagerly pressed his lips against the other man's again, his mouth feeling strangely empty without Seifer's purposeful tongue languidly massaging his. He loved kissing Seifer. Squall couldn't remember the last time he had really enjoyed something as thoroughly as the feeling of Seifer's velvety tongue.
Closing his eyes, Squall gave himself completely to Seifer.
---
It felt strangely good, strangely homely. Sitting there with Seifer in the back seat of their car, watching the seemingly never-ending rain trailing lazily down the windows. It felt oddly right, even though Squall still felt so very drained, so very empty. He looked at Seifer who was quietly smoking a cigarette, leaning against the car's door and staring off into space. The room was slowly filling itself with smoke.
Squall couldn't stop thinking about what had happened, feeling a slight pang of shame shoot through him whenever he thought of how he had behaved underneath Seifer as he had fucked him, how he had scratched his back, how he had moaned his name and asked for more. But his thoughts also kept trailing to what had happened before that.
"I look ridiculous in your clothes," Seifer mused.
"You don't," Squall answered softly. Squall had given the other man the only clothes that had fit his much broader frame, a wide t-shirt he had purchased some years ago and his light blue pyjama pants. Seifer looked slightly funny, but not downright ridiculous.
"The fuck I don't," Seifer muttered. Then he snickered and his intense eyes rolled to look at Squall. "But then, getting all my clothes wet was worth it, I guess."
He rolled the window down and threw the rest of the cigarette out. Silence spread out between them, Squall once more occupied with his own thoughts, thoughts that he got clearer on by the minute, thoughts that scared him and excited him at the same time.
Squall's heart contracted when he thought of it. He saw the image of the ugly monster, remembering the feelings he had felt when trying to combat it. The frenzy he had run on. At the life he had felt, at how right it had felt. The fighting, the thrill, the play with life and death, the sex, the sweat, the rain. How he had felt like he'd never felt before. Like another world, a world completely different from the boring one he'd led before, but a life that actually was a life.
Squall had never really felt much, until the thrill had taken possession of him, until he'd seen nothing but that bird, until nothing but killing that monster had mattered. Nothing but the life pumping through his veins, breaking the ice that been speeding through his body all these years.
"What was up with you, anyways..?" Seifer asked as though he had known Squall was musing about it. He sounded guarded and hesistant. "You seemed almost.. possessed."
"I... I felt... I felt... alive," the brunette answered, whispering the last word. "I felt, Seifer."
"What did you feel, Squall?" Seifer asked softly.
Squall swallowed. "Adrenaline. A thrill."
"Remember when I asked you about whether you'd ever thought about killing yourself?"
Squall looked up and nodded.
"Only when we put our own lives at stake is when we truly feel alive."
"What does that have to do with suicide? Who are 'we'?"
"You and me," Seifer said simply. Squall waited for him to say more, but when he didn't, Squall curled himself up, resting his head between his legs.
"You do this a lot, don't you?" Squall suddenly asked.
Seifer started another cigarette, taking a lungful and blowing the smoke in the air sensually. "What do you mean?"
Squall looked up. "Killing."
Seifer flinched, definitely flinched, and that was when Squall knew. It was all the proof he needed.
"You've killed before, haven't you?" he asked so quietly it was barely audible. Nonetheless, he knew that Seifer had heard him.
The blonde swallowed visibly. When he spoke those next words, they were so quiet Squall almost didn't hear them. "I was in prison, Squall. For the last three years. And I don't have much time.."
The brunette said nothing for a long while. Grinding his teeth together, he pressed out: "Who was it?"
"Who? You mean, who did I kill?" Seifer asked, then laughed quietly, entirely without humour. "Rinoa."
The word just sort of lingered in the room, reverating in Squall's ears. He heard the name all over again. Rinoa. Rinoa. Rinoa. RINOA.
Squall's head started to swim again.
"But.. you loved her."
"I didn't do it on purpose," Seifer said, conflicted emotions on his face. Sitting up, he reached out to cup Squall's hands, taking them forecfully even as the smaller man made slight attempts to withdraw them. "Do you want to know my story..? I mean, I won't tell you a novel, just a short summary of my life..?" Seifer asked quietly.
Squall, his heart in his throat, nodded.
Seifer took a deep breath, rolled his eyes upwards as though in pain, and then levelled them on Squall's face as he monotonously started to tell.
"I... I... killed her accidentally when she tried to interrupt a fight between me and some bullies I'd always hated," Seifer said. "But don't think I was so innocent before that. It wasn't even my first murder. I was very skilled with my gunblade, and I'd killed people sometimes, during gang riots. I was involved with Deling's underworld. Deling City is the drug and sex capital of Gaia, we have a scene here that you probably can't even imagine. Having grown up without parents, Rinoa and those gangs was all I really had." Seifer stopped at this point to draw a shaky breath, collecting himself. "She was my everything. Sure, I'm gay and always have been. But I loved her. I never wanted to fuck her, but she was my only true friend. She didn't come from those circles. Her mother was a singer and her father in politics and quite influential. She was not only the only true friend I had, she was also the only person I really socialized with who wasn't involved with gang wars. And.. and I killed her. Accidentally, but I still killed her," Seifer had to pause at this point and Squall let him, not pressing the issue.
"Though my other murders had gone unwitnessed, Rinoa's was very different. She still had parents and a reputation, unlike the nameless bastards I had killed in the heat of the battle before her. Her father had me thrown in jail for what I did to his daughter, and I can't blame him. I deserved it. I really did." Seifer's voice was thick with emotion at this point.
"I only got three years, though, since I was underaged at the time of the crime and because witnesses could prove that it had in fact been merely an accident. The judge believed I hadn't meant to kill the only girl that meant anything to me, so I got away with only three years.. three years for taking her life, isn't this ironic? I don't think you can measure the value of a person's life by years spent in prison... " He paused. "My three years in jail were very uneventful and I'd rather just forget the awful time there. I used it to shape my body, though. After I got released a month ago, I was so happy I thought I'd explode." He paused. "That's it," he added quietly.
Squall was floored with the story. He had expected no less, really, but the way Seifer was so raw with hurt just stirred something inside Squall. "So, what are you doing now..?" he asked quietly.
"What can an ex-convict do?" Seifer asked, trying to look nonchalant, but failing. "There isn't really anything I can do, but don't pity me. I have plans."
"You had money to pay the hotel," Squall pointed out. His eyes widened at a sudden realization. "Don't tell me..?"
Seifer said nothing for a long while. "Yes, I am involved with it again. You're awfully smart, you know that, pussycat?" he smiled. "So quick at figuring things out."
Squall's thoughts were swirling.
"How.. how can you?" Squall pressed out eventually. "How? How can you do it again?" He paused. "You said you had plans? What plans?"
"I'm not really involved with the.. underworld, or however you want to call it again. The old me, the Seifer from three years ago.. he's a stranger, Squall. He's no longer me. I don't even really remember all the shit I did." Seifer said. "But.. there's this guy who still owes me money. He's promised to return it to me tonight. If he does, I get enough money to move to Esthar and start a new life. Away from where the Galbadian government can reach me, I can maybe resume school. Remember I told you, I was in Galbadia Garden briefly. Got kicked out, though. Instructors said I was unable to follow orders, or something along those lines," he laughed sceptically, but quickly became serious again."I've always thought it would be awesome to be gunblade-teacher. Maybe I can do that.. in Esthar." He smiled at Squall encouragingly. "Don't look like that! It's not that bad, really. I do have a future."
"I'm glad," Squall muttered, realizing with a slight shock that he really was. "I think you would be a great teacher..."
"Thank you," Seifer said, looking like the compliment genuinely made him happy. Then he smirked naughtily and Squall knew the old Seifer had returned, at least to some degree. "I'm a good sex teacher, too, eh? You loved it, didn't ya?"
Squall rolled his eyes, yanking his hands away from Seifer. "Trust you to break the moment," he muttered sardonically.
Seifer laughed, still not as carefree as he had before, but slowly regaining his attitude. "Man, you're a lion in bed. I'm sure I have tons of red scratches on my back."
"Cut it," Squall snarled.
"Oh yeah, Seifer, oh yeah," Seifer mocked.
"I said, cut it!" Squall said, hitting Seifer playfully on the arm and Seifer stopped laughing. They were silent for a while.
"Look, it's stopped raining," Seifer said. "I guess we should slowly head into the direction of the train station."
Squall checked his watch and saw that the last train would leave in approximately an hour. He wondered distantly where all the time had gone to. Had they been driving for so long? Had they sat in silence in this car for so long? Had they fucked for so long? He felt a slight pull inside him, one that indicated that the brunette didn't really want to leave. He frowned.
They had enough time to drive there, but they would have to slowly get their asses in gear, as much as Squall wanted to stay in this place. Nodding, Squall reached to open the passenger's door so he could step out and enter the front one, but Seifer stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"I really meant what I said," Seifer muttered. "I will start a new life in Esthar. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."
Squall looked at him. "Who said I would worry?"
Seifer just smiled, releasing Squall's arm. The brunette gave him another long look before he opened the door at last.
The drive to the train station passed quite uneventfully, but Squall's head was lost in thought all the while, flashes of memories illuminating his brain cruelly and periodically. He remembered the blood, the sex, the feelings.. he remembered it all and felt a slight pull of sadness at the fact that it was all over and that he on his way to resume his boring life, or the empty shell thereof, in Balamb Town.
"Did it hurt..?" Seifer suddenly asked into the silence. Squall knew he was asking about sex.
"At first..." the brunette answered vaguely. He sighed deeply. "But, I liked it." More than liked it.
A huge grin appeared on Seifer's face and he even briefly looked at Squall before his eyes returned to the road where they belonged. "Fucking you was a kind of achievement for me. It was, after all, the reason I picked you up."
"Was it really?" Squall asked out of the blue.
"Huh?" Seifer asked, perplexed. "I told you so, no?"
"Didn't you say we were similar..?" Squall trailed off, looking at the other man intently, who was, very uncharacteristically, frowning. "Maybe that was really why you insisted on staying with me."
"There is a connection between us," Seifer murmured. There was a long pause and when he finally spoke it, it was very quietly, but with feeling. "I see you as my equal."
I see you as my equal.
Squall blinked. "Thanks...?"
Seifer laughed. "I can't believe you developed something close to humour within those three days we spent together. I'm awfully impressed with your progress, Squall. Remeber how stoic you were when I first met you? I mean, not like you're Mr. Sociable now, but you're warmed up a lot to me. I know you don't do this to everyone."
"Really?" Squall asked dryly. "How would you know?"
"I'm sure all of Balamb is afraid of you."
Squall made a displeased face. "Don't talk nonsense."
Seifer chuckled quietly to himself, and the rest of the drive passed without either of them saying much. Before Squall knew it, houses emerged on either side of the car, and the farther they drove, the houses around them gained in density until soon Squall knoew they had reached downtown Deling again. It wouldn't be long until they reached the train station. Squall felt the almost physical pull to tell the blonde to stop, but didn't. When Seifer parked, and killed the enginge, a minute could've passed since they started driving, or two hours. Squall had long since lost his feeling for the flow of time. Squall looked out of the window and saw that the train station was a mere couple of meters away. Sighing, he turned to Seifer, studying his face closely. His beautiful, deep eyes, his strong jawline, his high, Aryan nose. His funny clothing.
"Maybe you should go now," Seifer said softly.
Squall looked at him, and, following a sudden pull, heaved his body forward, pressing his lips softly against Seifer's. He nibbled on Seifer's lower lip, ran his tongue along it, then finally plunged his tongue into the other's inviting mouth. Wrapping his arms around Seifer's neck, Squall kissed him deeply, wanting to say so many things with this kiss. When they broke apart, Squall had to draw in air sharply, like the blonde had sucked his breath out of him with this crushing, soulful kiss. Looking at Seifer out of wide eyes, Squall asked: "Can't you go to the train station with me?"
Seifer looked at him. "People will stare at my clothes."
Squall cocked an eyebrow. "Do you care?"
Seifer smiled. "No."
Squall gave Seifer's arm a squeeze before he left the car, stretching his limbs. It was already dark around them, night having fallen a while ago while they had still been sitting in the car. Temperatures had dropped considerably and Squall wrapped his own arms around his body protectively. Seifer, as though it was perfectly natural, carried all of Squall's stuff as they quietly walked to the train station, not exchanging a word. When they entered the train station main hall, people looked at the two men funnily, but Squall, being more than used to funny stares, ignored them professionally. It had never mattered to him what other people thought of him and he would sure as hell not start now of all times. Seeing that his train would leave on platform 10, they slowly, quietly, proceeded to the platform, finding it rather empty. The train was already there, but wouldn't leave for another 10 minutes. Seifer nodded to one of the benches and they sat down, Seifer sighing quietly as he could let go of the rather heavy bags Squall had brought.
"You know," Seifer said quietly. "I'm kinda glad your dad dumped you."
Squall wanted to say 'me too', but couldn't bring himself to. He stared into the night, hearing the distant chatter of other people, some machine or train making metallic, oily sounds in the distance somewhere, the cool air pinching his skin. Squall looked at Seifer, until at last, a thought occured to him, causing him to reach for his bags.
"Oh my bad!" Squall said. "You still haven't eaten anything all day!"
Seifer stopped the brunette gently but firmly. "It's okay. I don't want to spend our last minutes munching away on some apple. Yeah, I'm awfully hungry, but I'll just go and eat at a restaurant once you've left. I won't go collect what's rightfully mine until later tonight."
Squall frowned. "Are you sure?"
"That I don't want your food or that I'm really going there to get my money? The answer to both is: yeah, I am. It's my money and my fucking future at stake here. I want a new life. I long for it, Squall."
Squall looked at him and Seifer reciprocated the look. Suddenly, he broke out into a rather warm smile. "Hey, pussycat, almost forgot. Do you have a piece of paper and a pen?"
"Yeah" Squall trailed off. ".. pussycat?"
Seifer winked suggestively. "Lion would probably fit you better. My back is killing me."
A pang of shame went through Squall. "Shut up," he hissed.
Seifer laughed quietly. "So, you have that piece of paper or not?"
"What for?"
"I want to give you my e-mail address.." Seifer trailed off. "You know, we probably won't see each other again, but I thought it would be nice to keep in touch, you know, write each other once in a while.. see how the other is doing..." he breathed in sharply. "But of course, if you don't want to.."
"No, it's a good idea," Squall interrupted, looking through one of his smaller bags and silently handed Seifer a small piece of white paper and a pen. The brunette watched as Seifer scribbled down something, then turned the paper to write something on its back and handed the piece of paper with all two sites covered with neat little letters back to Squall.
Squall frowned deeply as he read the front site. "...BigBadGunblader66gmail.gb?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
Squall shook his head. He hadn't really expected anything else. He decided that very instant that he would write Seifer an e-mail the day after, right after school. Squall was just about to turn the paper to read what Seifer had written there when Seifer's voice firmly stopped him. "Don't."
The brunette looked up. "Why not?"
Seifer shrugged. "Please read it on the train. Not that it's anything special.. it's just... don't read it in front of me, kay?"
Squall, though curious, accepted Seifer's wish. He neatly folded the paper and slipped it into one of his jeans pockets, his eyes never leaving the other man who was giving him a very un-Seifer-like unsure smile.
"Oh," Seifer exclaimed. "Almost forgot! What am I gonna do with your clothes? I can't -"
"Keep them," Squall said simply.
"You're not serious."
"Keep them," Squall repeated.
"Whoa, honest? Well, I can't deny I'm sorta glad. Didn't really want to strip just now. Thanks a bunch, Squall."
Squall opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a pleasant, female voice. His back went rigid, all thoughts about clothes quickly leaving his head.
DCL 302 , from Deling City to Balamb Town, will leave the platform in two minutes. Passengers, please board the train. I repeat: DCL 302, from Deling City to Balamb Town, will leave the platform in two minutes. Passengers, please board the train and have a safe and pleasant journey!
Seifer sighed deeply and got up, Squall following his movements hesitatingly. They stood facing each other for a good minute, just looking at each other, trying to soak up each other's face so they would not forget it. Squall tried to say something, but had to shut his mouth again as nothing but a hoarse whisper came out. Trying to collect himself, Seifer wrapping his arms around the smaller man and crushing him to his chest nearly knocked the wind out of Squall's lungs.
"I'm glad I met you, Squall," Seifer whispered into the other man's ear, his breath hot and arousing in the brunette's ear. "I don't love you, Squall. I've only known you for three days, but," he released the brunette to look into his eyes, "I'm on the path that leads there."
Squall didn't know what to say. Nodding at Seifer, he slowly boarded the train, turning around to look at the other man once he was inside. Seifer gave him a small smile and a thumbs-up, and something inside Squall moved when the train's doors closed and he could no longer see the blonde. Unable to move, Squall had to steady himself as the train started to move, and for once horrible second, Squall seriously contemplated pulling the emergency brakes, getting out and staying in Deling City forever. Joining Seifer in his gang riots or whatever. Anything but returning to his repetitive life that wasn't really a life. Anything but having to live like a walking corpse that hadn't yet realized it had long since left what had once been its life.
But, Squall knew he couldn't. The one heart-wrenching moment passed.
The train picked up speed and soon Deling was far, far behind him.
to be continued
(please review and stay tuned for the conclusion in the epilogue)