Hayner sighed when he noticed the familiar outline of Seifer moving through the crowd. Taking a deep breath and swallowing the lump in his throat that was part fear, part pride, he approached the blonde.
"I'm sorry!" He blurted, blushing and avoiding eye contact.
Seifer either didn't hear him or didn't care because when Hayner peeked up a moment later, he was several feet down the hall, continuing to walk as if Hayner had never existed.
Hayner groaned, rushing to catch up. He grabbed the blonde's arm. "Don't be a dick. I'm sorry, all right? I was an idiot and an asshole and I'm sorry."
Seifer grumbled, "I have absolutely no reason to believe you, and I'm late for class." Pulling his arm out of Hayner's grip, he turned and started down the hall again.
Hayner growled. Easily catching up, he snapped: "That's it!" and shoved the blonde into an empty classroom, following close behind and shutting the door behind them, crossing his arms. "Look, I realize the last week or so I've been giving you hell and I'm trying to fucking apologize so stop running away and listen, goddammit! I freaked when I saw you all the time on campus, okay? I jumped to the wrong conclusion because I'm an idiot and it took some harsh words from my best friend to snap me out of it. I hate being wrong, dammit, so how many times do I have to say I fucked up and I'm sorry before you believe me?"
Seifer rolled his eyes, "Fine. I believe you're sorry, but that doesn't make the fact that my class starts in thirty seconds any less true." he glared, "Are you done?"
Hayner's shoulders slumped and his arms fell to his sides. Keeping his eyes on the floor, he stepped away from the door and nodded, fists clenching and unclenching.
Seifer sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he was going to be late to class, "What?"
Hayner took a deep breath and lifted his gaze to meet the blonde's. A light blush dusted his cheeks. Without anger, in complete sincerity, he said: "I'm sorry." He offered his right hand, a small smile appearing on his face. "Hi, my name is Hayner. Nice to meet you. I promise I'm not psychotic."
Seifer sighed, taking the younger blonde's hand and shaking it, "Having trouble believing you on the psychotic thing, but I'll ignore it."
Hayner rolled his eyes, but returned the handshake. "So what class are you late for?"
Seifer raised an eyebrow.
"If it's a history, I might be able to give you a good excuse, depending on the teacher. Any other class, you're shit outta luck and I say you might as well ditch. Everyone needs a mental health day, right?" Hayner said, grinning.
Seifer rolled his eyes, "It's a business class. My teacher won't be pleased, but I do need to get to it."
Hayner shrugged. "Whatever. See you later, then, Seifer."
"Yep." Seifer said. He stopped by the door, "And, uh, thanks for apologizing." With that, Seifer left.
Hayner shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets and leisurely following after him. Seifer might not want one, but a mental health day sounds pretty damn good to him...
XXXX
"Why did you drag me here again?" Sora asked Kairi, glancing at her.
"I needed a ride and I only have two hands and can't carry both of these AND open the door?" Kairi asked, "Because I wanted to? Does it really matter?"
Sora rolled his eyes, "Come on, then, I need to get going."
Kairi grabbed one of the two boxes, leaving Sora to pick up the other and headed for the door of the garage, pushing it open. Sora followed behind her.
Cloud got up from the desk where he was reluctantly doing paperwork when he heard the door open. Heading over, he said: "Welcome to the Rusty Wrench. Hey, Kairi, right? Axel told me last night you'd probably be stopping by today as he and Roxas baked last night." Cloud grinned. "Damn, that smells amazing."
Kairi peeked inside the one she was holding, "This one's yours." she said, handing it over and taking the other box from Sora, "And this is Sora, Roxas's older brother. Sora, Cloud- one of Axel's roommates."
"Ah, so you're Sora. Nice to meet you. I apologize in advance for Axel. Roxas is a great kid, though, and we definitely love having him around." Cloud said, grinning as he took the box from Kairi. To the redhead, he added: "Xig's in the back office - you can go on back."
"Glad Roxas isn't causing trouble." Sora chuckled, "I'm gonna get going to class, Kai. See you later." he waved, nodding to Cloud, and left the garage.
Kairi readjusted her grip on the box and pulled a check out of her pocket, "Here's that 500." she said to Cloud, "Thanks again."
Cloud stuffed the check into his pocket. "No problem, as long as this tastes as good as it smells. Think you can handle carrying both into the back office? I have to stay out here in case a customer comes in."
"As long as Xigbar will answer when I kick the door." Kairi nodded, taking the box back from him.
Cloud chuckled. "He'll be tripping over himself to open it once he hears you. I don't know what you slipped him when you fed him lunch, but he was wired the rest of the day."
Kairi laughed, "I just made him a normal sandwich." she promised, "Thanks, Cloud." she smiled, heading towards the back office. When she got to the door, she kicked it, really hoping Cloud was right.
"What the hell? Too lazy to open the door yourself?" Xigbar yelled, not moving from where he was sitting.
Kairi chuckled and called back, "My hands are full!"
Xigbar cursed, jumping up and yanking the door open. "Thought you were Cloud."
Kairi had a smirk on her face, "I figured. No worries." she smiled.
"Whatcha got, Red?" Xigbar asked, holding the door open wider so Kairi could squeeze past him and put the boxes down.
Kairi did so, putting Cloud's box down on the desk and handing the other one to Xigbar, "Your blueberry pie. And Cloud's strawberry shortcake, but he asked me to put it back here."
Xigbar grinned. "Hot damn. You really are amazing, you know that?" Xigbar placed the box next to Cloud's. "Thanks. You want a piece?"
"If you're willing to share." Kairi smiled, "And I didn't make it, Roxas did." she reminded him.
He winked. "I'm always willing to share with you." Crossing to the cabinets near the desk, he pulled out paper plates, forks, and napkins as well as a large knife. Opening his box, he grinned and inhaled deeply. "Your friend sure can cook."
"I take any opportunity to let Roxas cook for me." Kairi laughed, "I'll invite you for one of his dinners one time. You also have to try his cookies."
"He makes cookies for dinner? I'm there." Xigbar teased, cutting two slices of pie and plating them. "Hey, Sassy, that sounds an awful lot like you're asking me out on a date."
"Well, if you want it to be." Kairi winked.
Xigbar chuckled before taking a bite of pie. He groaned. "Oh god, forgetting dating. You're marrying me so that I'll always have desserts like this."
"You'd have to marry Roxas to do that." Kairi reminded him, taking a bite of her pie and smirking, "But I'm sure I can convince him to cook for you again."
"Red, I think I'm in love." Xigbar grinned.
Kairi giggled, batting her eyelashes.
"You busy later? We could have a real date, and you can decide if I'm worthy of the meeting-the-friends dinner. I promise I don't bite." Xigbar grinned cheekily.
"Sure." Kairi smiled back.
"Here." Xigbar put his pie down, grabbing a pen from his pocket and grabbing Kairi's hand, writing a series of numbers on her hand. "Call me."
Kairi snatched the pen from him and scribbled her own number on his hand, "My phone's always on." she winked.
Xigbar chuckled. "I gotta get back out there and help Cloud. But I'll call you later, Sassy. You won't get rid of me that easy."
"I have no plans to." Kairi winked, "Call me when you get off work and we'll go somewhere." she said.
Xigbar grinned. "You got it, Red." He finished off the last of pie before giving the rest a longing look and closing the lid, cleaning up and heading over to the door, holding it open for her.
Kairi walked out of the room, smiling at him.
"You have a ride home or something?" He asked as they made their way over to where Cloud was grumbling at paperwork.
"Good. You're here. You do the paperwork. I'll do my real job - fix mechanical things." Cloud said, pushing away from the desk in annoyance.
Kairi laughed, "I'm just heading to a place not far from here, so I'm gonna walk." she smiled.
"If you say so, Red." Xigbar said, shrugging as he took Cloud's place behind the desk. He scowled at the paperwork. "Dude, what the hell did you do? This was all organized last time I did it!"
"That statement proves I should be exempt from doing paperwork. I'm going to go take my bike apart now. See you later, Kairi. We're just waiting on your parts to come in - you'll have your car back in a few days. Xigbar, call me if there's a fire. Otherwise, leave me the hell alone." Cloud grumbled, giving Kairi a small wave as he walked over to his bike and disappeared under it, the sound of metal on metal filling the shop.
Kairi chuckled, "Have fun you two." she rolled her eyes, waving at Xigbar and leaving.
Xigbar admired her disappearing form before scowling down at the paperwork. Seriously, what the hell had Cloud done?
XXXX
Reno had noticed a trend with the customers that came to the bar. 99% of the time, they fit into one of three categories: There to watch sports, heartbroken/depressed in some way, or on a date. It was very rare to get a customer that didn't fall into these boundaries, which made Reno's job rather predictable.
He wiped down a part of the counter, tossing the rag down to its resting place and crossed the bar to see if one of his customers needed anything, but she was distracted by the blitzball game that was on and just shooed him away.
Namine headed to the bar, smiling as she saw Reno attempting to talk with one of his customers. The blonde sat down at the more empty end of the long, wooden bar Reno was working behind, taking a look around while she waited to be noticed.
Reno rolled his eyes at the customer and muttered something about predictable regulars before catching a glimpse of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw Namine sitting at the other end of the bar and allowed himself a small smile as he headed over, "Well, I didn't expect to see you here." he commented.
Namine grinned. "Hi, Reno. I was going to stop by your apartment earlier, but between classes and writing papers, I knew you'd have already left for work so I decided to visit you here."
"Well, I'm always in need of company here." Reno chuckled, "The regulars get boring after awhile. How have you been? I haven't seen you in a couple of days."
"I'm well, thanks. And you?" The blonde asked, tilting her head slightly and resting her chin in her hand, elbow on the bar.
"I'm not bad." Reno smiled. "Better now that Riku's not hiding out in his room constantly."
Namine sighed happily. "I think everyone is better now that that has settled down."
Reno nodded in agreement, "So, can I get you anything?"
"Do you have white wine?" Namine asked.
"Yes I do." Reno nodded, before smirking a little, "You sure you're old enough to be having wine, m'lady?"
Namine laughed and lowered her eyes, looking up at Reno through her eyelashes. "Do you want to see my identification?"
Reno smirked again, "I think I'm going to have to, dear. Wouldn't want to get in trouble."
"Oh, of course. Can't have that." Namine reached into her purse and handed her ID to Reno, smiling.
Reno checked it quickly and smiled, "Oh good, I can't get in trouble for doing anything to you." he winked, handing her ID back to her and crossing to get her wine without a word of explanation.
Namine blinked before sighing and tucking her ID back into her purse. 'For Sora's sake, I hope Riku doesn't blurt out things like that.'
Oblivious to Namine's thoughts, Reno walked back over and put her wine down in front of her.
"Thank you." She murmured, taking a sip, pleasantly surprised that it tasted better than she had expected from a full bar - it didn't taste like cheap wine. Reaching for her purse again and deciding to ignore his previous statement for her mental health, she asked: "How much is it?"
"For you, free." Reno said, with a smile, "Hold on a sec, 'kay?" He crossed the bar to speak with a customer that was beckoning him over.
Namine frowned, taking enough money to cover her drink plus a generous tip out of her purse before resting it back on her lap and slipping the money under the bottom of her glass. She glanced at Reno, smiling as she watched him grin at something the customer said as he deftly flipped glasses and poured a drink.
Her smile widened as he made his way back over to her. "You're quite talented, aren't you?"
Reno smiled back, "You pick up a few tricks down the line."
"Do you like this job, then?" The blonde asked curiously.
"Love it." Reno smiled again, "It's not what my parents or Aerith would have picked out for me, but I enjoy going to work every day and I make more than enough money to support myself." he shrugged.
"Then it's the best kind of job to have." Namine smiled back, taking a sip of her wine.
Reno's eyes caught the money hiding under her glass as she picked it up and he raised an eyebrow, "Hey, I said your wine was on the house."
Namine raised an eyebrow. "And that was very sweet of you, but you don't own this place, so you can't just give away free drinks. You'd have to pay for it."
"And I'm perfectly okay with that." Reno said, "If you have to, consider it a thank you for all the help with Riku, though I wish you'd just accept it as a gift." he smiled. "Either way, I'm not taking any money as payment."
"You don't have to thank me," Namine said, waving a hand, "as I wasn't really doing it for you but for Riku. And whether you accept it or not, I'm not putting that money back into my purse."
"Put it in your bra, then." Reno shrugged, with a smirk. "Or I can put it there for you, if you'd prefer."
"Really, Reno. You're supposed to buy me dinner before trying to get your hands in my bra, not try to get me tipsy with wine. And before you say it, cookies and a meal cooked by Aerith do not count." Namine laughed. "Although, technically I suppose we did sleep together already..."
Reno smirked and went to retort, but a hand landing on his shoulder made him lose his thought and turn.
"Stop flirting with the customers and get back to work. This bar won't tend itself." The black haired woman standing there rolled her eyes at the two.
"Right. Sorry, Tifa." Reno chuckled, and Tifa rolled her eyes and walked off.
"I'm sorry, I'm getting you in trouble. Maybe I should leave..." Namine trailed off, uncertain.
"Don't you dare." Reno chuckled, "Just gimme a minute." he said, smiling at her and turning to serve someone.
Namine shook her head but sipped her wine, watching Reno work. Since he didn't want her to leave, maybe she could convince him to give her a ride home. Either way, he was definitely taking her money for the drink, especially since he got in trouble with his boss because of her.
As Reno finished with his customer, he turned back to her, "Hey, are you doing anything later?"
"Define later." Namine said. "Later tonight or tomorrow?"
"Tonight." Reno glanced past her at the clock, "I get off in a half hour. If you're not doing anything and don't mind sticking around, I could take you out for that dinner you mentioned." he winked.
Namine smiled. "I'd like that. But don't think you'll be successful getting anywhere with me tonight even after dinner. That's a privilege you'll just have to earn. Also, I'm definitely paying for this drink, then."
"As long as you'll let me pay for dinner." Reno said.
The blonde pretended to debate the matter internally before reluctantly nodding. "All right, you win."
Reno smiled, "Alright then."
XXXX
Demyx glanced over at Zexion, who was sitting next to him on the couch. The two were watching a movie, but Demyx wasn't paying too much attention. Trying to make conversation, he spoke, "So... I noticed a ton of books in your room."
Zexion turned from watching the movie to look at Demyx. "Ah, yes. I like to read."
"What kind of books do you like?" Demyx asked.
"I will read almost anything, but I prefer mysteries or historical fiction. Or... romances." Zexion blushed lightly.
Demyx raised an eyebrow but didn't press it. "What do you like about them?" he asked, trying to get Zexion talking. He felt like he'd done a lot of the talking lately and wanted to know more about his new friend.
"Well, have you ever read a really good book, something that you really enjoyed? It just kind of sucks you in and you're right there with the characters, laughing and crying and screaming at them. And then you look at the clock and realize it's 7pm and you haven't eaten all day but it didn't matter because the book was so good that reading it was worth it. That's what I like. I like escaping reality." Zexion explained.
Demyx smiled, "Yeah, I can understand that. I get that way when I'm working with music. I just love getting lost in it."
"Do you write your own music? Which instrument? Do you have a favorite? Just instrumentals or do you write lyrics, too?" Zexion asked in a rush then blushed lightly and offered a smile.
Demyx chuckled and smiled back, "I'll play anything with strings, admittedly some things with strings better than others. My favorite's the sitar, though, 'cause of how confused most people look when I tell them what I play." he said with a small smirk, "I write lyrics, but they're not that great."
"I'm sure you're underestimating them." Zexion reassured. "I'd love to hear you play or read your lyrics. I've always been impressed with people who can take nothing and turn it into something."
Demyx smiled a little, "I'll play for you sometime, then."
Zexion's face lit up with a genuine smile. "I'd really like that." He felt that weird twist in his stomach, again.
Demyx smiled back at him.
"Um. Tell me something about you that I don't know." Zexion said, turning his body to fully face Demyx, now completely ignoring the movie.
Demyx shifted as well so that he was facing Zexion, and thought for a moment, "Umm... I'm horrible at math."
"As in it's your least favorite subject to study or as in no matter how many times your teacher explains it, it just doesn't make sense to you?" Zexion asked curiously.
"Mix of both. It doesn't make sense to me, and therefore it's my least favorite subject." Demyx answered.
Zexion frowned. "How badly are you doing? I could tutor you..."
"I'm not failing yet, but I'm getting pretty close." Demyx admitted.
Zexion nodded. "Starting tomorrow after school, I'll tutor you. I promise it's not as hard as they make it seem. That is, if you want my help..."
"That'd be great." Demyx said with a smile, "Thank you, Zexion."
He smiled back. "You're welcome, Demyx."
XXXX
What's this? An update on a Wednesday? What kind of world is this? IS THIS REAL LIFE?
I'm a little sick right now, I apologize. (This is Cami, by the way.)
That's right! We're updating twice a week for the rest of August (at least, though that's probably going to be it. XD)
We start school at the very end of August, and I don't know how much writing we'll get done with school going on. If it's anything like last semester, the answer is 'not much.'
Speaking of school, I have to call my workplace now. These are connected, I promise. I just realized how random that sounded. XD
See you guys on Saturday!