(4)

Of Tainted Beings and Relentless Dreams

Seifer burst out laughing and for once it was without a trace of sarcasm and mockery.

"Darling, don't be difficult." Raine continued despite Rinoa's uncomfortable looks and Seifer's obvious humor.

"Rinoa Heartilly comes form a prestigious family full of honor and chivalry with a history of spirit and beauty."

"I'm dazzled." Seifer drawled.

"She's the best wife you could ever find; innocent, beautiful, and trained form childhood to be the perfect wife and mother. She knows her duties and she knows them well."

"Wow, I'm already in love." Seifer scoffed.

"Stop being flippant, it's time you got settled with the perfect woman."

"Yeah…I guess you're right."

Raine's face brightened with Seifer's statement and Rinoa let out a sigh of relief, but sadly it was short-lived.

"I'll tell you when I find the perfect woman then." Seifer bowed in an embellished manner, "If you will excuse me now ladies, I have a few matters to attend to that are a bit more important than silly chit-chat."

"Please give me a chance!" Rinoa cried as Seifer turned to leave.

"Rinoa…was it? Your chance went out the same door you came in through with my mother…the moment you came in with her."

Raine glared at her son and Rinoa flushed a crimson shade of red.

"Tell me something mother…since I was supposedly betrothed to Rinoa here…why did you insist I take the other women out?"

"It takes a couple of imperfect women to make you realize the perfect one when you first lay eyes on her." Raine replied stiffly.

Seifer looked thoughtful for a second then looked Rinoa over again, "Nah, I'm sorry, I don't see perfection here. If you will excuse me."

Denzel looked at his watch, "Are you planning on staying up there all day?"

Squall coughed slightly, his heart racing as he sat on a sturdy branch several feet above the ground.

Denzel worriedly frowned at the sound of Squall's obvious fatigue, "Squall, please come down before you fall!"

Squall lay back against the bark, closing his eyes slightly as his breathing became ragged. 'Am I coming down with a fever?' he coughed again and let his hand fall by his side. He felt seriously spent and in need of dire rest.

Denzel looked around but then sat back in a manner where he could see his stubborn friend.

Birds chirped merrily as though there wasn't a worry in the world.

"Squall, come down before a bird decides your pretty hair will make a great nest." But the humor was lost on the brunet as he stared out at the sky.

"Squall…Comon…don' let me buy a gun and shoot some sense into that head of yours! Squall!"

A blonde stopped in mid-stride at the mention of the name. Green eyes searched the park for whoever called it.

Denzel stood up yet again, "Squall, dammit, I'm starving. Get down here or I swear I'm gonna start praying lightning would strike some sense into you!"

More coughs.

Squall doubled over gasping for breath moments before the 'sturdy' branch beneath him snapped and the brunet came falling backwards.

Denzel gasped as a figure sped in front of him, the brunet falling into his outstretched arms.

"Well, what do you know, guess not every tree decides to shed apples." Seifer's voice was gruff with worry.

Squall started laughing hysterically but coughs soon took over his lithe form.

Denzel stared at Seifer, "You…know him?"

Seifer set Squall on the ground and glanced at Denzel, "Yeah…this isn't Squall's first brush with misfortune…is Misfortune his middle name…or does it happen to be the first?"

Denzel grinned, "You must be the Angel Squall was talking about in the morning."

Squall straightened and cleared his throat, "Umm…hi…"

Denzel saw the yearning in the deep depths of grey orbs and smiled knowingly, "Well, Mr. Guardian Angel, you sure earned yourself a tough one."

"Seifer." The blonde grumbled.

"Huh?" Denzel threw an arm over the flaxen's shoulders, "Well…Seifer honey, how about you do us one more favour and treat us to a mouth-watering lunch."

"Denzel!" Squall frowned at the open way his friend talked to Seifer, but the blonde snorted, "My car is over there, but you will have to wait for a few minutes…I was on my way to sign some papers. Ten minutes wouldn't matter, right?"

Squall pouted, "You don't have"

"Of course he does. Guardian Angels should at least make sure their charges are well fed, don't you agree Angel?" the blonde frowned at the nickname and Squall hastened to make amends by reminding Denzel of Seifer's name.

Squall followed Seifer and Denzel, who still had his arm over the blonde's shoulder, "By the way Angel"

"Seifer." The blonde enunciated.

Denzel ignored the interruption, "My name is Denzel. I'm the only friend Squall has. Don't worry I'll put in a good word for you."

Seifer snorted as Squall's friend burst out laughing and turned to wink at Squall over his shoulder.

Seifer stopped by his car and shrugged off Denzel's arm, "Here are the keys; you do know how to start a car, right?"

Denzel pulled the key's out of the blonde's delicate fingers, "Piece of cake, but how do you know I won't run off with it?"

Seifer snorted, "Misfortune and I have a way of finding each other." He said, referring to the brunet.

Denzel laughed hard and Squall stuck out his tongue as the blonde waved and walked off to sign the papers he was talking about.

Denzel got in behind the wheel, "Smooth car… exactly hoe do you start it?"

"I hate you." Squall cried form the back seat.

Denzel chuckled and bent back to ruffle his friend's hair, "Nah you don't, I just got you lunch with the man of your dreams."

"That's the reason I hate you, you retard!"

Denzel snorted, "In your heart of hearts you're thanking me like hell. I saw the way you look at him. You want to be with him, deny it if you could."

Squall turned to look out the window, "We could never belong. You need to learn to separate dreams from reality."

Denzel snorted, "Who decides what dreams are anyway. Just because your life wasn't perfect and circumstances made you what you are doesn't mean you can't be happy…you know life changes for many people, why is it hard for you to imagine it would change for you too?"

Squall shrugged, "Forget it."

He coughed slightly and lay back against the soft leather of his chair.

"I think Angel here likes you."

"I think you are mad…so does 'Angel'."

Squall chuckled at the memory of Seifer's face when Denzel called him Angel. "I'm going to make sure you are happy one day…that's why we are friends."

Squall was going to reply when Seifer opened the driver door, "Are you planning on taking us or what?"

Denzel chuckled as he pushed himself to the passenger side, "So…Squall likes sea food Angel."

Seifer glared playfully at Denzel, "I'll make sure they give you 'fugu' (balloon fish)."

For your interest: The fugu is delicious white-meat fish, but eating it can be dangerous because it has deadly poison. You need a license to cook fugu in Japan.

Squall laughed and Denzel smiled.

Seifer felt funny as he drove to a reputable seafood restaurant by the beach a few minutes drive from the city. 'Since when do I make others laugh? Since when have I become the perfect citizen?'

Denzel sang crazy melodies on the way till Seifer had enough with his retarded pitch, "Man shut up…I'm gonna throw up dammit!"

Squall frowned at his friend, "Dens, comon already."

"Altogether now!" Denzel laughed as he continued with lyrics Squall was sure he was making up as he went along since none of it made any sense

. Seifer finally burst out laughing, "You idiot."

Denzel grinned and the pitch of the song increased dramatically, along with the volume.

"Shut up!" Squall and Seifer cried out in unison.

Denzel laughed, "Okay you grumpy asses, what do you want to do instead?"

"How about see who can shut up the longest?" Seifer suggested.

Denzel frowned, "That is boring. How about you sing for us Angel, since you are acting all superior with delicate ears."

Seifer snorted, "In your idiotic dreams. I wouldn't want to bless you."

"Oooh tough talk Angel. No wonder Squall is entranced"

"Denzel!" Squall cried in dismay, his face heating adorably.

Seifer sighed as he parked in front of the restaurant which was more like a stable boat in the sea.

Squall's eyes widened with wonder and a beautiful smile adorned his face. Seifer didn't know he was staring at the brunet, captivated by the simple smile that seemed to light up everything it fell on, until Denzel chuckled by his ear, "Guess Squall isn't the only one smitten, eh?" Seifer ignored him as he opened the door for Squall, walked in after him and shut it in Denzel's face.

The brunet just laughed and reopened the door running to follow the pair to a table just by the glass panes that overlooked the calm ocean. The sky was still overcast but Squall still looked like an eager child with not a worry or care in the world.

A pretty waitress hanged by Seifer's elbow, making Squall frown and Denzel grin. "What would you like to order?"

Seifer turned to Squall, "Would you like me to order for you?" Squall shrugged and nodded, turning to stare out at the waves, which were still gentle despite the wind. "We'll have salmon and tuna, shrimp rice, shark soup, and poisonous, uncooked fugu for prince charming here." Seifer smiled at Denzel, who laughed in good humor.

The waitress gasped at the last order but Seifer grinned, "Forget the last order; I don't think Squall wants his friend to die, although the world will be a better place I assure you."

The waitress smiled and nodded, "What about your drinks?"

"Well…Mixed fruit," Seifer turned to his two guests who just shrugged, "And two of your vanilla specials. Thank you. We will order dessert later."

The waitress nodded and turned to leave with their orders. "So, Squall, why did you leave so early?" Seifer asked.

The brunet shrugged and Denzel came to his rescue, "Heh, he couldn't wait to tell me all about you."

"Really?" Seifer looked dubious.

"No, really. He told me he slept in your arms and that you were warm"

"Denzel!" Squall looked distraught.

"He said your voice is sonorous and that your arms were strong"

"Denzel!" Squall smiled shyly at the blonde as he rammed his foot into Denzel's shin.

"Oww!" Denzel cried, "Why the hell are you kicking? I'm only telling Angel the truth."

Squall stood up, "I need to use the men's room, climbing the tree sure had dirtied my hands."

Seifer nodded and Squall left, but not before giving his friend a warning glare.

When he was out of earshot Denzel turned serious, "Do you like him?"

Seifer frowned, "That's none of your business."

"Like hell it is. There's no one out there for him except me. I won't let you hurt him."

Seifer sighed and turned to look out at the ocean, "So he lives with you?"

"Heh, nah…we don't really have a place to call home. We...sorta like rent rooms…and pay for them while working in the same place. Yeah…" Denzel snorted at the vague explanation.

"And what kind of work is it exactly?"

Denzel pulled out a card with the name 'Elite Desires' signed on it.

"We work there. Why don't you pass by tonight? It opens at ten."

"Isn't that late? How old are you guys anyway?"

"I'm 20 but Squall just turned 18 a month ago. How about you?"

"25." Seifer frowned, "So Squall has no parents?"

"His father abandoned him long ago and his mother was evaluated with a deadly cancer…she doesn't have much but she sure is making the time she has left memorable."

Seifer was left to ponder about that statement as Squall came back looking refreshed; the waitress coming with their food shortly after.