A/N: Refer to previous pages for the standard disclaimer. Here's the third chapter of this SeiferxQuistis fic, and once again I hope you enjoy it enough to drop a kind/constructive review. I hope no one finds my portryal of Quistis too OOC. I've always felt that Quistis was an extremely repressed character in FFVIII; she turned to Squall for solace and found none, and had to make way for Rinoa to enter Squall's heart instead. She's always struck me as very insecure, and we all know that insecurity can affect behaviours negatively. And at the end of the game, while Seifer'd come to terms with himself (of course, the process was left to our own imagination), I never actually got the feeling that Quistis had her own happy ending too.

So I guess that explains this fic. On to the chapter. (:

lessons in ineloquence

#03: a l l a r g a n d o

"Congratulations, Seifer. You're now a SeeD; I'll have to constantly remind myself that I'm no longer your superior."

They had run into each other just outside the cafeteria. Seifer rolled his eyes and said airily, "That's funny, Quistis, I always saw you as the outstandingly inferior one."

"Hm, you're becoming cheeky, Seifer." She held out her arm. "Let's get to the cafeteria. My treat."

Seifer was eyeing her suspiciously; Quistis saw it and laughed. "I don't have an ulterior motive, if that's what you were wondering. I gave Squall a treat after he passed his exam too."

"When did I get relegated to the same level as Squall?" Verbal consent or not, he was walking alongside her in the same direction now.

"You didn't," Quistis replied matter-of-factly. "It's just something I do for people I know."

"Do you have to be so damn responsible and nice to everyone when you really aren't?"

Quistis felt as though she had been slapped. The unfairness of Seifer's last sentence formed a cold, tight knot in her stomach. Why had he said that? She could not figure it out. "That's really brilliant, Seifer, coming from you."

Seifer smirked as they reached the cafeteria and he slipped into the nearest chair. "Touched a nerve, didn't I? Talk about hypersensitivity." He leaned back, a smug look on his face, wearing that age-old expression of his that had long ago cost Quistis such patience to refrain from pummeling him. "Say, Instructor… everything's gonna be on you, right?" He waved Quistis on towards the stalls. "Get on with it and don't keep me waiting."

Quistis cursed and regretted deeply her decision (what had possessed her?) to treat this overly-egoistic young man. Thankfully, the queue was short and before long she plunked down a heavily-laden tray before Seifer.

"Gee lookie, it's pigtailed-girl feeding sausages to chicken-wuss again," Seifer remarked in a high-pitched, singsong tone as he caught sight of that semi-couple sitting some tables away from them. He bit into a sandwich without as much as a 'thanks' to Quistis.

Half-infuriated, half-pondering, Quistis sucked at her straw and mused, "I wonder if Rinoa and Squall do that, too."

She hadn't meant to say that; the words had simply slipped out of her mouth. Seifer looked at her. "No. You pretty much know that too."

Quistis gave some nervous laughter. "Yes, Squall would never let her. That aside, though, I'm sure he treats Rinoa perfectly... Lucky girl, I'm happy for her." She paused. "What if Squall doesn't treat Rinoa well? What would you do?"

Seifer folded his arms and sat back. "Nothing," he replied carelessly, looking in another direction. "This is lame."

"Now that's being petty, isn't it? You're angry at her for choosing Squall, for leaving you, so you get your revenge by leaving her to her fate."

Like before, Quistis had no idea why those words tumbled so readily from her mouth. From somewhere within her, she felt a hopeless want to one-up Seifer, as he had so easily (and perhaps unconsciously) one-up her the way he had earlier, onboard the submarine.

Without warning, Seifer stood up, shoving his chair back. The chair scraped against the floor, making a screeching sound. Dozens of pairs of eyes rested upon Seifer as his eyes flashed.

"Point number one, Quistis Trepe, is that she didn't leave me. We left each other, or, if you're still serious about demonizing me, I left her. She's no longer in my life, so should I really give a shit about what happens to her? Besides, that girl's pretty damn capable of taking care of herself. Point number two is that even if I am petty, how's that gonna be worse than the way you pine away for Squall? It's disgusting. One moment you're saying that you're happy for Rinoa, and in the next breath you imagine her ill-treated by Squall. You're bloody hypocritical, Quistis."

She stared at him, speechless.

"Well, I've lost my appetite. You can save this whole damned lunch for yourself." Dozens of shocked eyes trailed him all the way out of the cafeteria.

x x x

"…You're still here."

The food was untouched, and rested in its initial position on the tray. Quistis was stirring her drink absently. The ice cubes had all melted, and she found the drink very bland indeed, but she continued drinking.

"You came back anyway."

"Don't be mistaken. I merely needed a drink."

She held out his drink to him; it would be just as tasteless as hers.

"You were wrong, Seifer. When I imagined Rinoa being ill-treated, I just wanted to have some reason to not love Squall as much."

(broadening)