Plans in Motion

Seifer Almasy would never admit it to anyone but he was absolutely terrified of needles. Right now the injured racer was being poked in the arm, having blood drawn. His green eyes were locked unwillingly on the sight of his blood filling the vial of the syringe. When the nurse was satisfied she removed it and blotted his arm with a cotton ball. Quistis sighed gratefully as she pried Seifer's fingers off her hand.

"I was starting to lose circulation in my arm. Why'd you squeeze so hard?" Quistis questioned as she massaged feeling back into her crushed hand.

He looked nervous for a moment but quickly covered it up with his typical cocky smirk.

"Uh…I don't know…sorry," he offered, blushing slightly.

Quistis just shook her head and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics. When would he figure out that everyone knew of his extreme fear of needles?

"I'm going to go get something to drink really fast," she decided when she noticed the nurse preparing another syringe.

"Okay Mr. Almasy, lie down on your stomach and pull your pants down. This one has to be given through the rear," the nurse directed.

Seifer's eyes filled with dread as the nurse came towards him.

"Quistis…come back…please?" he pleaded as the door closed behind his retreating girlfriend.

Squall sighed in frustration as he sat on the floor, surrounded by pieces of Seifer's bike. He had been toiling for several hours, trying to get the pieces separated so he could see what could be repaired and what would have to be replaced. So far it appeared that Seifer would have to buy a completely new bike. Everything had been so twisted and torn by the wreck that none of it was salvageable.

"Damn," he murmured to himself, surveying the wreckage surrounding him.

Zell chose that moment to enter the back room of the garage where the bike was being kept.

"How's it look?" he asked as he helped himself to a bottle of water from the small fridge that resided in the corner of the room.

Squall shook his head, "There's nothing I can do."

Zell winced, anticipating Seifer's reaction.

"Yeah, that's what I'm expecting too."

"Well, maybe he won't freak out," Zell offered hopefully.

Squall didn't respond, just sat there on the floor, staring at Zell.

"Yeah, you're right, he's gonna freak," Zell declared, changing his mind.

Squall just nodded miserably.

"Well, maybe you can avoid telling him for awhile," Zell suggested.

Again Squall said nothing, staring at Zell incredulously.

"Oh, yeah, didn't think so," Zell changed his mind again. He fell silent, drinking his water.

"Well, maybe…" he tried again.

"Shut up Zell."

The blaring ring of her newly hooked up phone jarred Rinoa into wakefulness. She had been up very late the night before trying to edit the latest chapter of her novel.

Her hand came out from under her sheets and felt around gingerly on the nightstand until she found the receiver. She pulled it under the covers and answered.

"Hello?"

"Rin, are you just waking up?" Quistis asked her friend with an unseen grin.

"Yeah, I stayed up too late last night," the sleepy brunette replied.

"Oh yeah, doing what if I may ask?" Quistis asked jokingly.

Rinoa smirked as she answered, "Oh nothing much, Squall came over."

"WHAT?!?!?!?" Quistis' yell echoed through the phone line. Whatever else she was going to say was cut off by Rinoa's laughter.

"I was kidding Quisty, don't get so excited."

"That's not funny Rinoa, you about gave me a heart attack. It's a good thing I'm already at the hospital," the blonde declared.

Rinoa frowned at this, "Did you stay there all night again? That's not good for you. You need to sleep in a bed and you won't survive long on that nasty hospital food. Seifer will be alright without you for a few days. You need to go home and rest."

"Yeah I know. I've heard this lecture before, remember, you gave it to me yesterday," Quistis protested.

"And you aren't going to listen this time either, are you?" Rinoa questioned.

"Nope," Quistis promised.

"How about we compromise and go out to lunch?" offered Rinoa.

"Yeah that sounds good. I'll pick you up in an hour?"

"Okay," the brunette replied as she rolled out of bed.

Quistis had barely hung the phone up before she was back on the line. She quickly dialed the number for the garage and waited impatiently for one of the guys to pick up.

The loud ringing from the other room distracted Squall from his concentration on the remains of Seifer's bike. He quickly went to answer it.

"Balamb Automotive Repair Shop, this is Squall. How may I help you?"

"Hey Squall, it's Quistis. Can I talk to Zell for a minute?"

"Uh, sure, hang on a sec," Squall covered the receiver with his hand and waved across the garage at Zell.

"Zell, phone."

The hyper blonde jumped to his feet and started back flipping across the room to where Squall stood at the desk. Squall just rolled his eyes and handed the dizzy blonde the phone.

"It's Quis," Squall said as he walked back to the ruins of the motorcycle.

"Hey Quistis," Zell greeted her as he picked up the phone, "What's up?"

"Zell, I need you to get Squall to go out to lunch at that sandwich shop over on Main Street at 1 o'clock. Can you do that for me?"

The spiky haired man thought for several minutes, "Do I get to come too?" he asked plaintively.

"Sure Zell, just make sure Squall is there," Quistis replied, exasperated.

"Okay, sure thing Quisty," he promised as he hung up.

Quistis tried very hard to act surprised when Zell and Squall walked into the deli where she and Rinoa had just sat down.

"Squall, Zell, what are you two doing here?" she asked, waving at her friends.

The two mechanics walked over and greeted the women.

"Zell really wanted to come here so I agreed to come so he'd shut up," Squall explained, glancing suspiciously between the innocence radiating Zell and the surprised but smug Quistis.

"Well, we haven't ordered yet and I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem to bring over some chairs if you guys wanted to join us," Rinoa suggested politely.

Squall was still looking suspiciously at Quistis but nodded. The waiter hurriedly brought over two more chairs and the new arrivals sat down. The group ordered quickly and the waiter departed.

"So what are you boys into today?" Quistis asked as they all got their drinks.

"Squall has been working on Seifer's bike all morning while I do the rest of the stuff," Zell replied after guzzling half of his soda in one gulp.

"How's it coming?" she asked, nervous.

Squall just shook his head, "There's nothing I can do. He's gonna have to get a new one."

Quistis groaned and Rinoa looked confused.

"What's wrong?" she wondered aloud.

"Seifer's had that bike since high school. He loves that thing." Squall explained.

"He's not gonna want to get another one," Quistis stated.

"If he wants to keep racing he won't have a choice," Squall interjected.

Quistis nodded and sighed.

Just then their sandwiches arrived and they all began to devour the food hungrily. After they finished their sandwiches Squall declared that he and Zell needed to return to work at the garage. Quistis insisted that she needed to speak to Zell alone before the duo left the deli. Squall offered to walk Rinoa back to their building while his friends talked.

"So what's up Quistis?" Zell asked as Squall and Rinoa walked away. "Well, I was thinking that Squall and Rinoa would be good together. So, I'm trying to give them chances to get to know each other. That's what today was about. Thanks for your help Zell."

"Sure thing Quisty. They do look cute together," the blonde said as he watched the two walk down the street away from them.

"So you'll keep helping me?" she asked.

Zell grinned and nodded.

"This should be fun."

AN: I know not a lot happened but I had to put it in so I could start Quistis' matchmaking plots.

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