Chapter 6.
IIiiII
Irvine and Zell were carrying the little blonde's sofa into Seifer's dorm.
"Where do you want it?" Irvine asked.
They stopped in the living room. The original couch stood on the left of TV with the smashed cabinet underneath.
"Here, put it here." Zell said, they sat in facing the TV, forming a sort of square of furniture with the two sofas, the TV and wall.
"Okay." They put it down and Irvine stretched his back groaning in pain.
"You're out of shape cowboy." Seifer said.
"At least I'm helping and not sitting on my ass unlike someone." He looked at Seifer who sat on the other sofa.
"I'm supervising." He replied.
Zell knocked his legs off the couch. "Time for you to do work too I think."
The taller man stood and they went back down the hall to Zell's dorm. Nida was setting up his new living room, his dark lover glared at Seifer when they walked in.
Seifer glared back.
Zell walked into what used to be his bedroom and handed Irvine a full length mirror, the cowboy took it and left with it.
The bed had been the hardest thing to move. Irvine had suggested that the two of them just swap beds but Zell had protested and Seifer hadn't helped by going on about all the nasty things Nida had no doubt done in it. So they had wrestled the base and mattress down the hallway, scraping all the walls in the process, knocking over pot plants and hitting cadets left and right.
"Do you think this a good idea?" Zell asked as he started loading box with clothes and all the stuff he had tipped out of the cupboard when they had moved it.
"What, us living together?" Seifer asked.
"Yeah." He shut one box and shoved it in Seifer's direction.
The taller man watched Zell pack another box. "A few years ago I would have killed Squall if he roomed us together."
Seifer chuckled and picked up one of the boxes, Zell picked up the other and they carried them to their new dorm. "Yeah I probably would have done too."
The cowboy looked up as they walked in. "What are you two laughing about?"
"Irvine, do you think it's a good idea for Seifer and I to be living together?"
He blinked, glancing between them. "Well… yeah sure."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, it makes perfect sense."
They looked blankly at him.
"Think about it, next Sunday on movie night you don't have to go anywhere." He suggested.
Zell scoffed. "I was only a walk down the hall, hell I didn't even bother putting shoes on for that walk."
"Next time you lose something, and you know how often you lose things you can blame Seifer."
Seifer frowned. "I don't think that's a plus."
Irvine shrugged. "Maybe not but once you start sharing a room, you'll have more space."
The blonde blinked at him, then turned and glanced at each other in confusion. "What?" Zell asked.
It was Irvine's turn to be confused. "Well I mean- you know- you two- I thought- well- we all thought-"
"You thought? What? How did you think-? Why did you think-?" Zell stuttered.
"All? Who's 'you all?'" Seifer asked.
"Well you know- everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Me, Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa… Squall… Everyone."
The blondes looked at each other again. "Oh." Seifer said.
"Why?" Zell asked.
Irvine blinked. "Well- God I can't believe you didn't know- you two came top in the poll Selphie did. 'The perfect would be couple.'"
"We did?" Zell said.
The cowboy nodded.
"Oh." He said.
Irvine shrugged. "Oh well, those boxes won't move themselves." He walked between them and out the door leaving the two blondes standing there staring at each other. Zell looked away first and followed Irvine.
Seifer frowned. Stupid cowboy, why did he go and do that for? Selphie knew he had feelings for Zell but he didn't know everyone else had made polls about them and thought they'd be a 'perfect couple'. Now Zell was all awkward around him. He turned and walked back to Zell's old room. The little blonde handed him a box in silence and he left with it. Zell grabbed Irvine by the arm and pulled him back.
"What did you go and say that for?" He hissed.
"I thought you knew." He shrugged. "I thought you liked Seifer."
Zell frowned. "But he doesn't know that!"
"There you go then, I was helping!" He grinned.
"Helping me how? He's going to be all quiet around me now!"
Seifer came back into the room and they fell silent looking at him. The tall man frowned at them, letting them know that he knew they were talking about him.
They continued to sort out the two rooms by the time they had finished it was evening. Irvine tipped his hat at them. "I have to go I'm going on this mission tomorrow so I'll see you later."
"Bye Irvine." Zell said.
The cowboy left and shut the door behind him. Zell sat on the arm of the sofa and Seifer hovered in his bedroom doorway.
"So." He said.
"So." Zell repeated, he eyed the smashed cabinet under the TV. "What are you going to do about that?" He asked, just to make conversation.
"I might just take the glass doors off and leave it door less." Seifer said.
"Oh."
Silence.
Seifer crossed the room and moved to sit on the other side of the sofa. Zell looked across at him and slid of the arm to sit probably on the couch.
They glanced over at each other and back again.
"Let's see what's on the TV." Seifer suggested.
"Good idea."
They both reached for the remote at the same time, their hands met causing both to jump and drop the machine to the floor.
It landed nearer to Seifer.
Zell rubbed at his hand as if he'd hurt it and shifted on the couch. Seifer leant down and picked up the remote for the TV. He turned on the TV and started flicking through the channels.
"I could use a beer." Zell said, getting up from the sofa and walking into the kitchen.
Seifer breathed a nervous sigh once Zell was out of sight. He found a documentary about big cats and left that channel on.
Zell came back in. "Here." He said.
Seifer looked up to see a bottle being held in front of his face. He reached up and took it. "Thanks."
He flopped back down on his end of the sofa. "What we watching?" He asked.
Seifer gestured to the screen. "Something about big cats I think."
"Oh."
Seifer glanced at him. "You want something else?"
Zell shook his head no but he didn't look too interested so Seifer started flicking again. He went up two channels and saw a very naked woman touching an equally naked man.
"Ah!" Zell yelled.
Seifer stabbed the buttons to get rid of it, it didn't work straight away because he was panicking and not hitting the right buttons but eventually it went away and they went back to the big cats. They sighed in relief.
Seifer glanced back at Zell who now looked even more uncomfortable, he glanced at Seifer and their eyes met. They quickly looked away.
Seifer sighed and muted the TV.
"This is ridiculous." He told Zell, turning to face him on the sofa.
The little blonde fidgeted studying his lap.
"Look at me." Seifer said gently.
Zell slowly glanced up at him.
"We can't act like idiots over something Irvine said, you know what he's like."
Zell smiled. "He's probably not even right about any of it."
"Exactly, what the hell does he know? How long has he been chasing Squall for? Two years?"
Zell chuckled. "Right."
"Right." Seifer echoed.
They nervous laughter died away leaving more silence.
"Glad we sorted that out then." Zell muttered, almost inaudible.
Someone knocked on the door and Zell jumped up quickly to answer it.
"Hi Zell." Selphie waved. "I can't stay I just wondered if- Zell?! What are you-?"
Zell grabbed her by the arm and dragged her inside. "Look! Selphie's here!" He announced.
Seifer glanced up and nodded at her in greeting.
"Err- yeah." She pulled her arm out of his grip. "What the hell is up with you?" She asked him.
"In the kitchen." He said, shoving her into the other room.
"What's wrong?" She asked quietly when they were out of Seifer's hearing range.
"Selphie you have to stay! Please!"
"Why? I-I can't! Rinoa and I are teaching Evan about Lunatic Pandora!"
He frowned. "Lunatic Pandora? Why?"
"Well it's this whole thing, about a guardian force and Evan admitted he barely scraped through in his sorceress studies."
"Not so great as you thought then." Zell smirked.
She whacked him in the arm. "Shut up! He's still hot!"
"Well can't you take me with you? Say you need an expert opinion or something."
Selphie gave him a look. "No offence Zell but if I needed an expert it wouldn't be you."
"Hey!" He protested. "I know some stuff!"
"You know how many hotdogs it's possible to eat without being sick." Seifer voice floated over them.
Zell jumped, Selphie just laughed.
Seifer leant in the doorway of the kitchen. "What's this about Lunatic Pandora?" He asked, his tone was casual but something in his eyes gave him away.
Selphie glanced at Zell and then back at Seifer. "It's nothing, just that Squall wants this guardian force that's been spotted recently in Trabia and my team saw it inside Lunatic Pandora four years ago." She explained.
"Oh." He said, pausing. "So why does Evan need to know about it?"
She shrugged. "He admitted he didn't know and err-"
"And you seized upon the opportunity to get alone time with him." Zell said with a grin.
She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, pretending to be all shy and innocent. "Well… maybe something like that." She grinned.
"You're so devious." Zell said.
She smiled. "Well I have to go now." She stepped between them and Zell walked with her to the door.
"Bye Seifer!" She called.
He nodded at her.
She leant in and whispered. "Let me know how it goes." To a startled Zell and then winked at him.
She scuttled out and Zell shut the door, leaning on it. He walked back into the kitchen. Seifer was looking in the fridge.
"You don't have to look so worried."
The taller man stood up straight. "Worried?"
"Yeah, every time someone mentions the sorceress-" He watched Seifer flinch at the word. "Or Lunatic Pandora you look… worried."
The taller man glanced at the floor and then went back to looking in the fridge. "Well what do you expect? For me to jump and down with glee? It's not something I like to be reminded of."
Zell glanced down too as he stepped forward until he was right in front of his friend. Seifer looked up, surprised that the little blonde was being this bold.
"But that was four years ago." Zell pointed out. "You're completely different now."
"Yeah? How so?"
Zell sighed, looking like he was thinking about it. "Well for a start, you were a complete ass back then."
Seifer chuckled. "Yeah, I know." He paused, looking at the fridge one last time before shutting it and turning to face Zell. "And now?"
Zell shrugged. "You're not quite as ass-y as you were."
Seifer scoffed. "Oh thanks."
The shorter man was so close that Seifer reached out and pulled him in closer, holding him around the waist and Zell didn't pull away.
He grinned down at the little blonde in a teasing friendly way, hopefully not in a way that would scare him off. "Maybe I should put that character reference on my resume, not such a complete ass." He suggested with smile and raised eyebrow.
Zell shrugged casually. "Maybe you should."
Seifer cupped the tattooed side of Zell's face and leaned down to kiss him. The little blonde raised up onto his tip toes, arms going up around Seifer's neck.
They broke the kiss and Seifer eyed him curiously. "How long?" He asked.
"A while." He admitted. "You?"
"A while." Seifer said, he rested his forehead against Zell's. "We're very stupid."
Zell nodded. "Yes you are."
Seifer pulled back and gave him a look. "Hey!" He protested.
Zell grinned at him, using the arms around Seifer's neck to pull him back down for more kisses.
IIiiII
TBC