Stuck in Second Gear

Chapter 2

The One Where Seifer Is Not Really an Asshole

Something about Quistis Trepe had always managed to get underneath Seifer's skin. It went as far back to their time in the orphanage. Maybe it was the fact that she acted like she was five years younger than Cid Kramer instead of their age. Maybe it was her lack of ability to have any fun, ever. The girl needed to let loose, she was wound up so tightly, it stressed him out.

Maybe it was her arrogance, her condescension. Just because she was an instructor didn't mean she had to act like she was forty. If he was honest with himself, sometimes she reminded him a lot of himself. She bugged the hell out of him. And when people bugged Seifer, it really pissed him off. He didn't like when other people had so much power over him that they could irritate him this much. So, he went out of his way to bug her in return. Make her angry. In the best way he knew how: utter defiance of order.

As a teenager there were many times when he wanted to slam her against the back of a doorway and kiss her senseless. Just to make her stop being such a robot. Act like a seventeen-year-old. It's what he had found so attractive about Rinoa in their brief summer together. She was so spirited, care-free, and passionate. Seifer knew that fiery passion was inside Quistis somewhere, if she would only just let it out.

And Seifer Almasy loved a challenge.

The woman seriously needed to get laid. That was certain. He had come to that conclusion years ago.

Seeing Quistis again reminded Seifer of all of those things. She had changed, yet she was entirely the same. He always knew what people saw in her. No one could deny she was attractive. And brains were sexy as hell in a woman. He had always felt that way. Seifer always got off on going toe-to-toe with her. Raijin once told him he needed a woman who would put him in his place.

Quistis Trepe could certainly do that.

Quistis had seemed genuinely seemed shocked at Seifer's offer of a bath. Well, maybe she should have been. The Seifer of years ago wouldn't have cared or acted chivalrous. But, she had just looked so pathetic and sad. Sure, they hadn't seen each other for a long time, but they grew up together. He would think anyone with the same history would act the same way. He would have done the same for the messenger girl. Probably.

Maybe. If she was really, really, really desperate. Though he never would have bothered taking time to talk to her. And he wouldn't have let her use his personal bathroom, she could use the shower in the guest bathroom.

Seifer had actually thought he and Quistis had a pleasant conversation for a while, and maybe, just maybe, Quistis had learned to mellow out a little. Then, she got all prissy and haughty after she came out of the bathroom, and it was back to being seventeen again. And he was back to being just as irritated by her again.

He hadn't missed the way her eyes looked him over. Maybe that's what bugged him the most. Seifer knew he looked damn good. Confidence had never been a weakness for him. And he knew that Quistis knew. He didn't miss the look in her eyes hidden behind the pride. And maybe… just maybe it went beyond that. He'd hone out of the way to be nice to her, and then she'd acted all aloof on the way out.

Groaning, Seifer flopped back on the soft pillows of his bed. He needed a distraction. The voluptuous red-head from his torts class would do. She was down for literally anything. She would be a good distraction indeed.

Seifer grumbled as he shrugged his jeans back on, sliding them over his boxer-briefs. He could hear the water running in his guest bathroom and hoped she'd be quick about it. He had places to be.

He glanced in the direction of his master bathroom and frowned slightly. He never let any of his conquests use his personal bathroom. Not even the frequent flyers, such as the one that was currently cleaning up in his guest shower.

Yet he had let Quistis into his personal sanctuary. Why?

He knew why, and it was eating him away inside.

It was the exact same reason that his bed companion, while getting a thorough ravishing herself, just wasn't doing it for him. It was why he had to flip her over and close his eyes, picture blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes, and a very different voice screaming his name.

He felt a little bad about it. He really wasn't an asshole. At least… not an irredeemable one. Not like when he was younger. If he was a real asshole, he would have just kicked his conquests out. They kept coming back for more, so he must have been doing something right. He just wasn't really interested in any of them enough to settle down. Or bother taking them on real dates, for that matter.

Shrugging a t-shirt over his head, Seifer sat back down on his bed and groaned, burying his face in his hands. He had never had to fantasize about another woman in bed before. He felt… gross. Irritated. Defensive.

He felt like a jerk. And he really wasn't that much of a jerk.

This was all her fault.

"Hey, Seif?"

Ginger, a rather stunning redhead with curves in all the right places, stood in the doorway of his bedroom, hair damp and a bag slung across her shoulder.

Looking up from his hands, Seifer plastered his trademark cocky grin on his face. "You headed out?"

Ginger smiled kindly at him and crossed the threshold to lean down and kiss him on the cheek. "Yeah. Thanks for… you know."

Seifer did grin genuinely at that, and slowly stood from the bed to stand in front of her.

She looked down at the floor with uncharacteristic hesitation. "So… who is she?"

"Huh?"

The redhead smirked, looking up at Seifer with a knowing look. "Seif, I've known you for almost three years. Who is she?"

Seifer shook his shoulders, gently placing a hand to the small of her back and guiding her to the door. "It's… she's… there's no one."

They made their way to the door and she leaned over to pull on her boots. "That her?" Ginger nodded towards the kitchen, to the lone postcard that was attached to the fridge with a magnet.

The 'Save The Date' card.

Seifer made a face. "Rinoa? Hell, no. That ain't her." The inadvertent admission did not escape either occupant of the apartment.

"Don't get me wrong. I owe Rinoa… everything. Literally. I owe her my life. She's the only reason I'm going to that wedding. Her fiancé is a grade-A douche. He needs to go eat a bag of dicks."

Ginger raised an eyebrow as she finished lacing her shoes. "You sure that's not her? You sure have some beef with the hottie she's marrying. You even drew a speech bubble above his picture that says 'I'm a giant turd'."

"Hottie? Squall is not a hottie. You wound me. Trust me. It's not her. I just really hate that guy."

Ginger stood and leaned forward to give Seifer a hug. "Well…whoever she is. She's one lucky girl. Go get her, Seif."

"No hard feelings?"

A warm laugh escaped Ginger. "Hard feelings? No way. Jealous? Abso-fucking-lutely."

Seifer couldn't help but smile at that. "See you Saturday at the café for study group?"

"So, I ran into Seifer in Deling City last week."

Rinoa's eyes shot up from the wedding magazine she was reading to stare at her companion. "Really. He looks good, doesn't he?"

Quistis tried to hide her blush as she put a sticky note on one of the pages of Galbadia Bride in front of her. "No. I mean, yes. But, no."

Rinoa grinned slightly. "I mean, I think he looks good."

"I'm right here. You know I can hear you." Squall's voice barked from the desk where he was attempting to finish up some SeeD reports.

Rinoa waved her hand in the air dismissively. "Ignore him. So, what happened?"

Quistis chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Nothing. He mentioned he was in law school. It was brief, and then he left."

Rinoa hmmed, but didn't say anything else.

A pit coiled in the bottom of Quistis' stomach. She wasn't sure why she was lying. All she knew was that the thought of mentioning taking a bath in Seifer's ridiculously elaborate bathroom felt extremely embarrassing, and somehow weirdly intimate. Like it was this special thing between just the two of them.

She also had been thinking about that bathtub all week. And trying desperately not to picture the person who usually occupied the space. His youthful arrogance had morphed into an adult confidence that was infuriatingly attractive. The simple act of his hand brushing against hers had left her heart hammering harder than anything she had done with a male in the past.

He did look good. Rinoa was right.

Quistis had so many questions about Seifer. The money was a big one. How he got into law school was another. She also knew that Rinoa likely knew some of the answers. The damn girl somehow knew everything. Rinoa knew things even before they appeared on the gossip blog Selphie had kept in their youth, the Trabia Tattle-tale. But Quistis had to tread lightly, and not seem too eager to tip off any suspicion. If she seemed overly curious, Rinoa would catch on that her meeting with Seifer was much more than 'just a quick moment'.

"So… he mentioned law school. How did that happen?" Quistis finally asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Squall grumbled something incoherent from behind his mountain of paperwork.

Rinoa brightened, clearly eager to share the information. "Well, believe it or not, after getting completely pardoned, Seifer got really interested in the law, and decided he wanted to pay-it-forward. Help defend the defenseless and all. I guess the whole wanting to be a knight thing never quite left him. So, after he finished undergrad he took a year off, and then he applied to law school."

Quistis had not even known that Seifer had been taking university classes. But, she supposed he had to have been. Maybe that's what he had been doing while he was awaiting his fate. Undergraduate university was heavily subsidized for citizens of Galbadia, assuming you could pass the exams to get in.

Rinoa continued. "Galbadia University was super interested in him. Liked the whole 'reformed bad boy now wanting to do good'. So, they gave him a scholarship as long as they could use his story promotionally. Then after his first semester, he got an internship at a firm and they pay for the rest of his tuition. He's really really good at law."

Knowing that Seifer had done all that, still managed to hit the gym, apparently, and was extremely successful in his field made Quistis feel all the more like garbage. She must have seemed so pathetic in his eyes. She certainly looked the part. Seifer was living his life, and she was still living in a dorm with a shared bathroom and shower in Garden, where she had taught the same classes for seven years. Not even a promotion from Cid.

Her mission in Deling City had been the first time she had done anything outside of just helping to run Garden in… well, years.

Quistis still had burning questions. Rinoa's intel still didn't explain how Seifer afforded his apartment. The story just kept getting more interesting. Quistis tapped her lip thoughtfully. "How do you know all this?"

Another grumble came from behind Squall's paperwork, interspersed with some choice language.

"Ignore him." Rinoa said again with a coy smile, tossing a magazine towards Quistis with a few dog-eared pages. "We have lunch every other month when I go to Deling City to see Caraway."

Quistis blinked in surprise. She had no idea Rinoa and Seifer were in contact. Seifer hadn't mentioned anything to her, and Rinoa had never brought it up. Though, it made sense that they remained somewhat close, considering she was the one who lobbied so heavily for his pardon.

Rinoa, seeming to sense Quistis' confusion, glanced down at her wrists, idly rubbing the bracelets that adorned them. The deal made after the Second Sorceress War dictated that she always wear Odine Bangles.

"It's… therapeutic. He's the only other person who knows… what it's like…"

To be controlled by a Sorceress, Quistis thought. That was part of the reason Rinoa had helped him with his pardon. Because Rinoa knew exactly what it felt like to do evil under the control of magic. Because, if Seifer was guilty, then so was she.

The "Deling Dive" was Seifer's go-to spot. Cheap beer, good grub, neon advertisements, a non-sticky floor, surprisingly clean bathrooms, and enough televisions to display whatever sporting events the patron desired. After years of having beer spilled on him, and trashed girls slosh all over him while attempting to sing along with classic rock, he had instilled a rule that he would never frequent a bar that served drinks from plastic cups. So, he found the Deling Dive. It had a strict 'you break one glass, you get kicked out' rule that kept the floors relatively clean, and the clientele behaved themselves.

Plus they had a wide range of brews on tap. Including some rarer Esthari imports.

Seifer wove his way through the crowd, knowing there would be a spot for him parked at the bar. Sure enough, a waving hand caught his attention, and he slid into the seat next to a spiky-haired, tattooed blonde.

"Race is about to start, dude! You're late." Zell motioned to the bartender, Malcolm, who produced a microbrew ale in front of Seifer. GalbadiALE, his favorite.

Seifer grunted his thanks and took a sip of his pint.

"Sorry, had company. Chill out, Chicken-wuss."

Zell rolled his eyes, and fixed his attention onto the television in front of them that was broadcasting the formula race that was taking place in downtown Deling City.

"You had a good fight the other night." Seifer was eager to change the subject.

"Thanks, man. Broke a freaking rib though. Hurts like crazy."

These meetings had been taking place for a few months now. It all started when Seifer had gone to the bar to watch a chocobo race. The bar had been completely packed, with no seats available. Except for the stool next to one former-SeeD, current boxing champ, and hyperactive brawler.

After Seifer reluctantly took the seat, following a brief inner debate about whether he ought to just leave and miss the race, Seifer and Zell had found mutual understanding over the fact that they both enjoyed sports. So, for every major sporting event (of which, to them, there were about two a week), they would "accidentally" watch it at the same bar together.

They weren't friends or anything. Definitely not. They just happened to like watching the same sports.

Zell had mellowed significantly since leaving Garden. He was still animated, but by challenging his energy into boxing and T-board, he was far more calm in his every day interactions. He was, though Seifer would never admit this out loud, tolerable. And he knew a lot about sports. Also, Zell gave him front row tickets to boxing matches.

That was the only reason he showed up to these "accidental" meet-ups.

The library girl was jealous of all the attention Zell got as a result of his success. He had a huge fanbase. But Zell, being Zell, didn't even notice the many girls that threw themselves his way. He would just jovially sign an autograph, and go back to whatever he was doing. These days, Zell got even more female attention than Seifer did. But, that female attention had led to the library girl breaking up with Zell, which frankly ended up being the best thing for him. It allowed him to cut ties fully with Garden at last. His career soared as a result, since he no longer had to split his time between Balamb and Deling.

One such fangirl, a rather beautiful brunette, was currently shamelessly flirting with an oblivious Zell, pretending to be interested in the race. Zell was relaying technical facts to her about the way the cars were maintained, how many gil they cost, while she batted her eyelashes at him. Seifer smirked slightly at the interaction. Zell was completely clueless.

The girl had shimmied her way halfway onto Zell's lap, asking him innocuous questions about the race as she tried to subtly feel him up. Zell's leg was shaking, (as it always was), and the girl was being bounced around, giving most of the rest of the bar a rather enjoyable show, as all the right parts were jiggling. Zell just kept talking about his favorite driver, eyes glued to the screen, occasionally taking a sip of beer.

Then, the cable went out.

"Come on!" Zell stood suddenly, slamming his beer on the coaster, the girl on his lap being unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

He had the wherewithal to be sheepish at that, and offered a hand to pull her up with a quick apology, before turning his attention to Malcolm, the bartender.

"Dude! What happened? The race is done in like thirty minutes!"

"I mean, you could come to my place…" the brunette was trying to tell Zell, but he paid it no mind.

Malcolm shrugged. "Cable is out, Zell. Don't know when it will come back on."

"Shit." Grabbing his beer, Zell finished it in one chug before turning to Seifer. "What are we gonna do, man?"

Seifer crossed his arms and considered this carefully.

Zell had never been to his place. His oasis. But, Seifer did have cable and a rather impressive television.

"I don't have cable. Cut the cord, dude." Zell was bouncing on the tips of his toes in agitation.

Sighing deeply, Seifer came to a decision. One he really hoped he would later not regret. "We can go to my place. If you buy me a six-pack, and promise not to spill on anything. And sit still."

"Really? That's great, man! Let's go!" Tossing gil on the table, Zell all but ran for the door, leaving the stunned brunette behind.

"Hey, this place is really nice, dude! Where'd you get this lamp?"

"Don't touch anything, Chicken-wuss. Just sit down and find the race, the remote is on the coffee table," Seifer barked, tossing the beer in his fridge.

"Is that your room?"

"You're not allowed in there." Seifer shoved Zell back into his seat and handed him a beer. "And use a damn coaster, that's why they're there. Didn't your Ma raise you better than that?"

"Geez, dude." Zell leaned back on the comfortable couch and raised his feet up to place them on the coffee table. After one look at Seifer, he lowered them back to the ground with a grumble.

The next hour went by without incident. Zell managed to not spill, was given permission to use the guest bathroom, and only pissed off Seifer twice. Which was in and of itself a record. At the end, Zell was given permission to possibly come over for another sporting event, assuming he behaved himself.

Fifteen kilometers. That was the length of the run it took to finally get Quistis out of the forefront of Seifer's mind. More specifically, the mental image of her in his bathtub. It had distracted him all through his Conflict Resolutions class, to the point where he had blanked when his professor had asked him a question.

Seifer never blanked. If he was going to do something, he was going to be the best. Period. It was why his whole rivalry with Squall started. Law school was no different.

Knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere in writing his paper on the philosophy of legal ethics, he decided to run until he was no longer thinking about her. It took fifteen damn kilometers before he was finally able to begin forming a thesis statement for his paper.

Exercise always helped, and there was nowhere in Deling City for him to swing Hyperion around. Technically, he wasn't even supposed to have Hyperion. A condition of his pardon. Raijin and Fujin had taken a huge risk in obtaining it for him.

Despite the fact that he was already dripping in sweat, Seifer chose to take the stairs, two at a time, up to the twentieth floor where his apartment was. After exiting the stairwell, he stripped off his soaked shirt and wiped the sweat from his brow with it. Rounding the corner to his apartment, he stopped dead when he saw the figure lingering at his doorway.

"Quistis?"

She certainly looked better than the last time he had seen her. Much better. Gone were her arm-warmers and pink ensemble. She was wearing a short black skirt with a flowing, almost see-through cream blouse tucked in, and a black bra just visible underneath. Black combat boots adorned her feet, and her hair was not put up in the clip she normally wore. It flowed down her back in effortless waves. Her glasses were tucked into the top of her blouse, tugging it down slightly, giving the smallest hint of cleavage.

Was she… Had she dressed like that for him? To make up for how pitiful she looked last time? Seifer felt his mouth go dry and he unconsciously ran a hand along his abdomen as he desperately tried not to appreciate just how short the skirt was.

Quistis must have noticed the movement, and Seifer didn't fail to notice her eyes roam the expanse of his bare torso. A pretty blush sprinkled her face.

She recovered quickly. "I was in town. Wedding business. I know this may seem strange, but…"

Seifer crossed his arms, effectively showing off his mass. "Lemme guess. You wanted to use my bathtub again."

"Well, actually, yes."

Seifer studied her carefully as he considered how next to proceed. The idea of her in his bathtub again seemed very appealing. Maybe he could crack that shell of hers just a little, too. As he watched her, Seifer took into account all her little tells. The way her eyes were glued to the floor, the way she kept shifting her weight back and forth. She was guarded, but also… hiding something.

"That's the only reason you're here?"

Quistis pointedly looked at the wall and cleared her throat. "I don't have a bath in Garden, and my hotel doesn't have one either."

Seifer noticed the way she shifted uncomfortably as she said it.

I've been thinking about you too, Quistis…

"Okay then."

He grabbed the keys from the pocket of his running shorts and reached over to the lock. Quistis tried to move out of the way, but he stood close to her, pressing his chest to her back as he leaned over her to unlock his door, being sure she was very aware of how muscular he was.

"S'cuse me…" he rumbled against her ear, and grinned when he heard her breath hitch.

Taking far more time than was needed to open the door, Seifer took a moment to enjoy how flustered she was just by his near presence. Maybe this day was shaping up after all.

Seifer was good at payback. And payback was a bitch. Time to get back at her for unknowingly distracting him all week.

The door opened, and he motioned for her to enter. "All yours, Quistis. All yours."

Thank you to the wonderful colobonema for being my beta on all this. And the amazing ideas for chapter titles ;)