Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Another Bet ❯ Another bet ( Chapter 1 )

Another Bet

 

Seifer x Hayner

(Takes place after `The Transience of Memory' fic, and is in the same timeline)

 

 

He knew, from the moment he woke up that morning. He could feel the restlessness creeping up on him, swarming along his bones like a legion of ants, twitching in his joints.

 

He held it in, staring determinedly at the rough white ceiling, hoping the feeling would pass; hoping something - anything - could forestall the madness.

 

But now he knew, with absolute certainty, the abhorrent truth…

 

 

“Seifer, I'm BORED,” Hayner implored in a voice that was just shy of a whine. He never really whined - that wasn't very manly after all - he just skirted around it.

 

“So go home.”

 

Hayner glared at the room's other occupant and folded his arms across his chest. “I don't wanna.”

 

“So go bother Roxas.” Seifer didn't bother to look up from the magazine he was reading.

 

Again with the deadpan dismissal! Stupid thug.

 

“I can't, he's always with Axel.” Holy gods that sounded like a complete and utter whine, right there. Hayner cringed as he heard the words get past his lips. Oh well, maybe it had annoyed the other boy enough to get his attention. Hayner threw on a near-pout for good measure.

 

Seifer had indeed looked up. His ice blue eyes, ringed thinly with smoky gray, were piercing as always. However, his expression was disappointingly bland. “Don't expect me to entertain you - you're the one that insisted on staying here the last three days.” His voice was curt.

 

Hayner started to get annoyed. Seifer was acting like a machine, apathetic and unaffected. Not to say Seifer was the epitome of emotional expression, but he typically wore a scowl or a smirk like a badge. One or the other was always in place - it seemed utterly strange to see his face bereft of either, to see it completely blank. It was so unlike him, he had to be doing it on purpose.

 

“Why do you have to be so cold and stiff?” Hayner demanded, feeling his frustration seeping to the fore.

 

“I'm not cold,” Seifer said with a frown. A stress line formed between his brows as he looked away again.

 

“So are you just stiff then?” The blonde rebutted snottily.

 

Seifer scowled and studied the magazine with renewed focus, ignoring him.

 

Hayner stared at his face very carefully, looking for something he could use, or a weakness. He noticed a tightness in Seifer's face that didn't quite fit with his apathetic attitude. He crept closer, and was surprised to find the tension seemed to increase incrementally as he approached.

 

“You know,” he drawled, deciding to try a new tactic, “when you asked me to come spend a few days with you - this wasn't what you seemed to have in mind.”

 

There, just now - was that a twitch?

 

“I didn't think you would need me for your sole entertainment.”

 

“Ha. You've practically ignored me this whole time…” Hayner draped his arms around the older boy, felt him shudder. So this was the way to get under his skin? Time to lay it on thick then. He leaned closer, lips brushing feather-light against the curve of an ear. “Can't you entertain me just a little?” he breathed. He heard Seifer swallow, and unconsciously grip the magazine too hard.

 

Seifer found his resolve wearing as Hayner's lips found his throat. Damn Fuu. And damn Rai too. Of all the stupid ass things to bet on… And the timing couldn't have been worse.

 

 

 

-----

 

“I don't see what the problem is,” Seifer said with annoyance.

 

“Of course you don't,” Fuujn said haughtily. “Which is exactly what the problem is.” He crossed his arms across his narrow chest.

 

“He's right, boss,” Raijin added as he scruffed the stubble on his chin, his brow furrowed in thought.

 

Seifer muttered something under his breath, reigning in the urge to voice it clearly. “Is it such a pain in your ass, that I have better things to do sometimes?”

 

“But, boss! We never even see you anymore!”

 

“I see you all the goddamn time!” Seifer flung his hands out, externalizing his agitation. “Is it so wrong to want to see Hayner when we finally have a few days of down time?” In fact, he was lucky to see the blonde even once a week, and often they didn't get a chance to be alone. A quick bite to eat or, a brief visit to Hayner's while the grandma was around…As much as it was frustrating, it was all their lives would permit at the moment, and certainly better than nothing.

 

“Huh,” Fuu snorted. “And I suppose it's just coincidence that we're never allowed to be around when you are with him?” Raijin was nodding sagely.

 

Seifer ground his teeth. Of course he didn't need his cronies hanging around when he saw Hayner. Didn't that make any bloody sense to anyone but him?

 

Fuu looked down his nose and continued, “ I bet all you do with that kid is completely indecent. Some leader we have. No self-control.”

 

Seifer felt his self-control, the one he exercised on a minute to minute basis, wavering and about to break. If only Fuu's accusation held more weight, if he and Hayner really had more opportunity to be indecent, he'd be a happier man. They had no IDEA how much self -control he possessed. Maybe they'd like to see how he acted without it?

 

“I bet,” Fuu said before his leader could voice whatever was making his eyes glow maliciously like that, “I bet you $40 that you can't manage to keep your hands off him for the next three days.”

 

Rai was shocked at such a bet, flabbergasted. What outrage, that the boss would be accused of-

 

“HA! Easiest $40 I'll ever make.”

 

Seifer accepted, further shocking Rai when he didn't get mad or deny the implications. “But Fuu,” Raijin whispered from behind his hand, looking confused. He discarded his first impression of what they were betting on almost as fast as the thought formed. “Why would Seifer want to fight with Hayner?” Fighting was the only explanation, he thought, nothing else made any sense. His brain couldn't handle the other possibility, and therefore it skimmed blithely to the next remotely possible scenario.

 

Fuu gave him a pitying look. “You know they're going out, right?” he whispered back.

 

“Well, they used to hang out all the time when it was still summer, yeah.”

 

“Do you really think that's all they did?”

 

Rai still looked confused, so Fuujin took it upon himself to pantomime what words seemed to not get through to his dim-witted friend.

 

“God, Fuu! I'm standing right here!” Seifer yelled.

 

Fuujin tossed his hair, turning to face his leader while Rai's brain stumbled over newly acquired facts. For some incomprehensible reason, the brunette was counting on his fingers.

 

“Fine,” the silver haired boy said with a devious smile. “If you're so confidant, how about we up the ante?”

 

“$60,” Rai volunteered.

 

“Fine,” Fuujin agreed dismissively, slightly irritated with the dark haired boy for jumping in. He composed himself, picking up where he left off, “$60 says you can't-“

 

“No,” Rai interrupted. “ $60 says the boss will come through.”

 

“You idiot, don't side with him, you'll lose,” Fuu whispered harshly. “Just because you don't think that they ever-“ Fuu broke off, his eye twitching.

 

Rai's chin thrust forward slightly in stubbornness. His mind was made up, and nothing Fuujin said was going to change it.

 

“Moron,” Fuu muttered.

 

“$100 says I won't fold,” Seifer growled. He was infuriated with the way the last 5 minutes had progressed.

 

“I'm with you, boss.” Raijin announced, facing off with him against Fuujin. “But, only $60 worth.” Seifer and Fuu gave him an identical look of utter disdain. “What? That's all I have.”

 

Fuujin recovered from his shock quickly. His comrade had an undeniable talent for fumbling communication. It'd be comical if it wasn't so sad. On top of that - Rai's confidence on this bet was sorely misplaced. How naive could you be?? Seifer was no saint. He was going to have a HELL of a time winning this bet, especially since he was going to have several days alone with Hayner, for the first time in months.

 

Fuu's shoulders shook as he started laughing maniacally at them both from underneath his shaggy silver hair. “Fools! I'll take you both on! You'll make me rich!” He looked up, eyes glinting with determination and something else. The $160 is as good as mine!! With that I can-

 

“Yeah, well I hope you really have $160 to your name,” Rai taunted. “ You're gonna need it when you lose.” He grinned triumphantly, crossing his heavily muscled arms across his chest.

 

Seifer turned to go.

 

“Wait.” Fuu stopped him, digging into one of his pockets.

 

“What the hell is it now?” The gang leader snarled. He'd reached the limit of his patience.

 

Fuujin found what he was looking for and held it out to his leader, balking only slightly at his caustic tone. “You'll have to wear this.”

 

Seifer's look darkened considerably.

 

“Just so we know,” Fuu added meekly.

 

Seifer made a disgusted noise and stormed out of the room. Damn uppity subordinates.

 

-----

 

 

Hayner grabbed Seifer's magazine while he was distracted, and tossed it to the floor as he straddled the older boy. Seifer's slightly upraised hands twitched as if they longed to close upon flesh, but he made no move to touch him.

 

“See, I was right,” Hayner said softly when he'd settled onto Seifer's lap. “You are stiff.” He dismissed the sour look that surfaced on the miscreant's face at his bad joke. Eh, serves you right, he thought smugly as he nibbled along the older boy's jaw, feeling his response.

 

“Brat, leave this alone,” Seifer warned. Strain had crept into his voice. $100, he reminded himself desperately.

 

“Why should I?” Hayner murmured huskily. His hand played at Seifer's chest. “It's the least you could do.” I've been insanely bored for an eternity, as all we've done is sit and ignore each other because you have some kind of hang up, he thought. We could've at least gone out and done something. He tweaked a nipple, rolling it between his fingers, just as Seifer had been about to reply. A soft moan escaped the older boy's lips.

 

The sexual tension that had been hanging subtly in the air the past several days magnified sharply. Hayner rolled his hips forward and grinned with satisfaction as Seifer's unconsciously made noise increased in volume before he could cut it off.

 

Seifer stared him down, scowling darkly, but his ice blue eyes burned with a familiar heat.

 

Seifer weighed the options at his disposal. He thought carefully about the outcome, either way. Choice Number One: Have Hayner - Lose money - Lose credibility. Choice Number Two: Don't have Hayner - Win money - Save face….

 

“Aw, fuck it,” Seifer growled, and pulled Hayner to his mouth.

 

-------

 

“Hey, Fuu, he turned off the microphone.”

 

“What??” Fuujin grabbed the receiver from the tanned brunette and held the headphone to his ear. The only thing that could be heard was static. It had been difficult enough to get Seifer to go along with wearing it, but he'd grudgingly agreed that they needed some way to verify the outcome of the wager. “See? I told you!” he trumpeted at Raijin. Sneaky bastard thinks he'll have his way, and not have to pay up, huh?

 

Fuu grabbed Rai by the arm and pulled him along to the hideout. “Come on.” I'm not going down this easy.

 

------

 

Hayner moaned as Seifer claimed his mouth suddenly, smooth tongue driving between his unsuspecting lips, ravaging his mouth with an urgency that made Hayner's body throb with need. Cool hands slid under his shirt, sweeping endlessly upwards, reshaping his flesh, kneading and stroking his muscles into unwitting nonexistence and fanning the heat beneath his trembling skin.

 

Seifer's hands slid down his back, raising shivers in their wake that rippled, tingling, throughout his body. Those hands went low, kindling a flush of heat as they gripped and squeezed him from behind, promising much with their careful and tantalizing attention. Hayner's breaths came shorter, his mind caught in the space between the scalding mouth at his throat and the devilish hands at his back that were pulling him closer. Their desire met within their embrace, a slow thick pressure, tight friction, and sliding cloth. Hayner felt a wave of dizziness wash over him as he followed the path of sensation throughout his body. He was heady with arousal, and it was hot… so hot in here. His clothes were suffocating him, his skin burning.

 

His mouth felt drawn irresistibly to the curve of Seifer's throat. Heat rose off his skin as Hayner bent to study its smoothness with fervent lips. Heat and scent, and oh god, he was drowning in it.

 

Their chests barely brushed, the lack of contact crackling electrically in the thin space between them. Hayner leaned back, meaning to rise to his feet. The current pulled at them roughly as the distance widened. It stilled them to slow motion. Hayner gained his unsteady feet at a crawl, Seifer's eyes following his movement. The blonde thug's hands kept him close, curving over his hips, skimming down the back of a thigh, possession in his intense gaze.

 

Hayner's knees buckled when Seifer pulled him close, his mouth roaming hot and needy upon his suddenly exposed stomach. His muscles jumped and clenched as he tried to anticipate the movement of lips and breath and the flick of a tongue. He shuddered when they swept dangerously low, could feel the smirk upon those sinful lips. His mind tried to divert them from that course, even as his body tightened in anticipation. Hayner closed his eyes, trying to focus on standing. He tried to focus on something other than the coiling desire burning beneath Seifer's ministrations, or the taunting smirk that was growing on the thug's unreasonably sexy lips.

 

He shuddered fully when Seifer rose from the chair, sliding sinuously up his body. The electric heat of it shook through him, quivering riotously as Seifer pressed their bodies together, and backed them towards the bed. Seifer's mouth descended on his without warning, pulling at his soul, promising heaven with all the guile of a fallen angel.

 

-------

 

Raijin felt stupid hanging around outside the window listening, crouching in the grass beneath it. It was Fuujin's idea. He'd insisted - How would they know otherwise, without the mic? Rai supposed that made sense, the boss would probably know if they actually entered the hideout. Still, he couldn't understand Fuu's obsession with this. What the boss did was his own business. Besides, Rai still couldn't quite get his mind around the boss and Hayner hooking up. They didn't act any different than before.­..

 

“Maybe he didn't turn it off, ” Rai whispered across to Fuu. “Maybe it malfunctioned, cuz I don't hear anything that sounds like… you know.”

 

“Well wouldn't that be convenient,” Fuujin murmured, eyes fixed on the wall in front of him like he could see through it.

 

A questionable noise, barely audible, came from inside. Rai turned to stare at the wall.

 

“However,” Fuu continued, a faint pink twinge to his cheeks, despite his shrewd tone, ”I find that hard to believe.”

 

“That could've been anything,” Rai protested, his wide eyes contradicting him.

 

“I think it was Hayner.”

 

“Fuu!” Rai was aghast. If that was the case, not that it was, then weren't they eavesdropping on something rather personal?

 

“Shh!” Fuujin hissed. “They'll hear us.”

 

-----

 

“Seifer… did you… hear something?”

 

Seifer inwardly winced. He'd thought for a second that he'd heard voices just outside a few minutes ago, but he'd tuned it out. Even though it really sounded like Rai. Was it even possible the punks would try something so stupid, just because he cut the mic? No, couldn't be. Surely they had half a brain cell between the two of them. “No,” he murmured huskily, trailing lips up Hayner's neck, “don't worry about it.”

 

“But I'm sure that I - aaaaaaahh!” Seifer had a hand wrapped firmly around him and was stroking him with a pressure that was half painful, half exquisite. Hayner dug his fingernails into Seifer's shoulders.

 

That had better fucking not be Rai and Fuu, he thought savagely.

 

“I said, `don't worry about it',” Seifer repeated smokily, thrusting into Hayner and drowning his cry within the hot melding of their mouths. He'd be damned if he'd let anything come between them now. It had been so long since he'd felt his blonde writhing in senseless pleasure beneath him. So long since he'd seen those brown eyes look the way they did now.

 

Seifer shivered as Hayner's hands trailed shakily up his back, up the nape of his neck, sinking finally into his slightly dampened hair.

 

--------

 

One particularly loud moan filtered through the wall. Seifer's voice this time.

 

Rai's eyes got bigger, even as his face flushed. A dozen images flashed through his mind in that instant, things he had never ever had cause to think about before.

 

“Raijin.”

 

Rai looked at the other boy, unused to being addressed by his full name, especially not in such a terse tone. “Yeah?”

 

Fuu looked at him pointedly, and then down at his knee where Rai's hand was currently resting. Those sharp eyes sent a clear message: Move your hand now, and we'll forget this ever happened. Or I'll move it for you.

 

Rai stared at his hand dumbly, not remembering putting it there in the first place.

 

He removed the offending appendage, before Fuu decided to pull out his knives, and muttered an embarrassed apology. What had possessed him to-

 

A muffled groan cut his thought short. Once more, he could tell it was Seifer. Rai bit the inside of his cheek, as he reacted to the noise. Boss, no. He denied it in his head, just as if someone had accused him of it, in front of their leader. That hearing this…no, hearing him was affecting his body this way.

 

“I knew you were jealous of the kid,” Fuu said loftily, making Rai jump guiltily.

 

“Why the hell are we still out here, anyway?” Rai asked harshly, trying desperately to ignore what was going on in that room, and in his head. “I think it's obvious the boss… lost.”

 

“I think that was obvious to everyone but you as soon as he turned the mic off.”

Rai lost his balance, and fell over into the grass. “What???! The boss is going to have a fit if he finds out we were eavesdropping for no reason!” Raijin managed to keep his voice down, but he was very near hyperventilating. He'd betrayed the boss! Unknowingly, but still! “If you knew, why the hell did you drag me over here then?!”

 

“I was curious.”

 

Raijin gaped stupidly. He didn't fail to see the hint of a blush on the silver haired boy's cheeks. “What the hell about?!”

 

“I wondered if he was as good as everyone speculated.” Fuu had reverted back to his customary unflustered demeanor, but his expression was rapt. “Isn't it weird how many people practically throw themselves at him? I mean, just about everyone seems to have some sort of thing for him. Even you-”

 

The sound of a window slamming open made both of them look up quickly. The expression on Seifer's face when he looked down on them was both satisfied and sadistic; they had no doubt the former was because of Hayner and the latter was meant solely for them. It spawned a grin that was truly horrifying. “Well, well, isn't it nice to know how popular I am.” He leaned on the window frame, the motion making the muscles of his bare chest and arms flex tightly. His white blonde hair, which his gang had seen on only the rarest of occasions, was tangled and damp and wild. He stared down at them with cold eyes from between the twisted strands. “Care to explain, assholes?” His voice was as cold as his eyes and in eerie contrast with the smile.

 

Rai's eyes were wide as saucers. “B-Boss…” he stammered.

 

Fuu did his best impression of a wide-eyed kid. “We thought the mic maybe broke. We had to be sure…”

 

-----

 

Hayner pulled on his cargo shorts. Seifer was still at the window, leaning casually against the frame, as if studying the view. Which he wouldn't be, because there was nothing but a strip of tired grass and the city street to be seen from there. He came up next to Seifer mildly surprised the thug would risk anyone seeing his head without his trademark skully covering just about every strand of his hair. “Hey, what're you looking at?”

 

-----

 

Fuujin and Raijin stared up from their places on the grass, faces guilty and a little scared in the face of their leader's imminent wrath.

 

Fuu despite his predisposition towards self-preservation still managed to find amusement in how quickly Seifer began to backpedal at the other blonde's appearance. Gone was the icy stare and the threatening display of seething anger. Gone was the menace radiating towards them, and the promise of unspeakable repercussions. In the span of one second, he'd composed himself into the easygoing version of himself, only without the sarcastic set to his features. Fear was a truly awesome force.

 

“Nothing,” Seifer replied, a hand reaching out to steer Hayner back from the window before he could see the two of them. It was smooth. It was flawless. But it did not fool the one who mattered most.

 

Hayner took one look at Seifer's face, studying it briefly with a critical eye, then ducked under his arm so he could get at the window.

 

The look on his face when he saw them was almost as bad as Seifer's had been.

 

Fuu lifted his hand with a nervous smile and waved weakly. Rai just sat like a deer caught in the headlights.

 

Hayner disappeared from the window suddenly. “GODDAMMIT SEIFER!” he yelled. The sound of a fist hitting flesh was surprisingly audible.

 

Fuujin and Raijin glanced at each other and jumped up in concert, deciding that now was the time to beat a hasty retreat. Anyone daring to start a fistfight with Seifer was clearly insane.

 

Fuu risked a glance back, to see Hayner already halfway out the window, eyes glinting daggers as he prepared to come after them. Seifer was quick enough to grab him around the waist, to drag him back inside before he got any further.

 

Fuu breathed a sigh of relief then narrowly avoided a camouflage-colored shoe as it was launched from the window.

 

-------

 

“I swear, I didn't know they were there,” Seifer pleaded. “Not for sure.”

 

“You suspected it?!” Hayner ranted. “And you still - ?” His face flushed as he replayed the last half hour or so, and what they would've heard. That… and THAT… His stomach flip-flopped in remembrance.

 

“You wanted me to stop in the middle?”

 

“If someone's hanging around listening?! Yes!”

 

“See, I knew you would say that- that's why I didn't tell you.”

 

“Argh.” Hayner clutched his head in his hands. “What is wrong with you?” He sunk down onto the bed, head still in hand. “And what is up with them?” he lamented. “I mean, who DOES that?”

 

Seifer shrugged. “I have no fucking clue.” Well, that wasn't entirely true but he really didn't know what had possessed them to eavesdrop. Fuu's half-assed explanation was sorely lacking and Rai - Rai had practically radiated guilt. He was rather transparent as a rule. “But I'm not going to let it slide.” Fuu was going to cough up that $100 in repentance. Rai would lose his own share simply because he went along with it.

 

“God, that was so embarrassing,” Hayner breathed out, flopping back onto the bed with arms outstretched, closing his eyes as if in pain.

 

“I'll make it up to you.”

 

“How?” Hayner asked sullenly.

 

“Take you out to dinner? I should be coming into a bit of money soon.”

 

Hayner regarded Seifer balefully. “What am I, a girl?”

 

“Flattest girl I've ever seen,” he remarked dryly.

 

“Geez,” the blond muttered. “I mean - if you have cash coming your way, why don't you fix your deck already? We haven't been skateboarding in weeks. I miss doing stuff like that.”

 

“I miss a lot of things.”

 

Hayner looked up at the serious tone.

 

Seifer looked down at him. “Used to be I got to see you all the time. Why is it that once we got together, I hardly see you at all?”

 

“Well, that was summer…” He trailed off as lips brushed his own. The touch was feather-light and heady. There was more time for everything in the summer…

 

“I'm at my limit,” Seifer said softly. “I need to see you more.” Hayner shivered, the feel of the other boy was overcoming his senses. The steel strength of his will was palpable; His voice was forceful and husky. “I don't care how we have to do it.”

 

“I can't spend every weekend with you - especially not overnight… “ As much as I want to…

 

Lips were a soft caress against his shoulder. “Why?”

 

Hayner struggled to string a thought together. “Gran… she can't know that we - well, she suspects, but… and I'm not 18 quite yet…”

 

Teeth nipped at his skin in disapproval. “Ow!” Hayner glared at Seifer, only to be faced with a rather predatory gaze. He swallowed hard.

 

“Did she say she disapproved? Seems to me she was more than ok with us.”

 

Hayner was forced backward inch by inch as Seifer's lean, muscled body unfolded over him. “Well, not in so many words, but - “ A hot abdomen pressed against his, making his stomach flutter tightly and a soft groan escape his open mouth.

 

“But?” Seifer prompted, his mouth curving up slightly.

 

“Well…” he said haltingly, “it isn't so much about us… It's more of a situational thing…” Hayner's brow knitted slightly, his eyes focusing inward as he searched for words. “My mum was 16 when she met my dad. They seemed crazy about each other, but something about him didn't sit right with Gran. My mum brought him over for dinner one night - it was the first time Gran had even heard of him, and there they were, already engaged. She was against it, saying they were too young - that they should approach these sorts of things slowly, but really…” she was afraid. Hayner's flow of words slowed. She was afraid for her only daughter, for reasons she couldn't quite place, not until later… Was he really going to tell Seifer the rest? His stomach was already tipping queasily, as his own memories tried to flood his brain. He shivered as a wash of coolness chased down his body, and struggled to keep them at a distance as if they weren't his to begin with.

 

Hayner looked up as the warm weight of the other boy disappeared. He sat up slowly, following suit, his face reflecting the question he didn't want to ask, but needed to know the answer to. Seifer's expression wasn't empty, not his blank face, but it was similar. His eyes were tumultuous and not easily read. Maybe this wasn't the best time to go into this… Dammit. I didn't really even mean to… I shouldn't have said anything…

 

Hayner blinked as the rumpled comforter was dropped over his shoulders.

 

“You don't have to tell me.”

 

Hayner felt his brain scrambling for the right meaning to apply to the statement. He doesn't want to know? Or just not right now? He felt relief and anxiety flash like cool sparks behind his eyes, in his gut - equally strong, and contradicting. Or have I overstepped the limits of what there is between us? Some undefined restricted area I don't know the shape of… He clutched the cover, closing it about himself. He felt very small, lost in the dusty dry smell of cotton. How are you supposed to know what parts of the past are essential, and what parts will just be a burden after the retelling - something to poison any small happiness you've managed to cultivate?

 

“But I've wanted to know for a while now,” Seifer said as he looked up at the ceiling, following a hairline crack with his eyes.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You alluded to it before, the first time I saw where you lived. Something about your parents… and why you lived with your grandma.” His eyes were guarded, like deep pools trapped under the foggy pale tint of ice. “I didn't feel I had the right to ask.” And the unspoken question: Do I have the right to ask?

 

Hayner hunched his shoulders, sinking deeper under the thick blanket. It felt warm against his cheeks, his trapped breaths making the air feel close and stuffy. It was something to focus on aside from the quicksilver dread knifing through him. Wanting to say something - or wanting something out in the open - and actually making it happen were two entirely different things.

 

“To say it simply…” If there is such a thing…”I guess my dad went kind of psycho. He was really jealous and paranoid, and over the years it got worse. By the time I was born, my mother was desperate and lonely. He pretty much cut her ties with everyone, indirectly; nobody seemed to want to stay in contact with her when they saw what he was like, maybe they were scared of what he might be capable of. So she stayed with Gran a lot, mostly under the pretense of needing help with me.”

 

He took a slow breath, exhaling just as slowly. “I have memories of my dad, good ones even… times where he acted like any father might. Teaching me how to ride a bike, smiling back at my mum when he let go, and I kept going - not realizing I was doing it on my own at first. He took me fishing, and I hated it, but I was happy to be there with him. Then I remember little things, like the tears on my mother's face as she tried to comfort me, the feeling of fear that I never quite attached to my father even though he was the source of it, the empty 5 gal water jug in the corner that we filled with pennies and pocket change - I always ended up looking at that when we hid from him in the bedroom - probably because she always told me all the different things we could do one day when we had finally filled it to the top. I don't recall the yelling and screaming that must've been going on… but I noticed when things got broken.” He knew he was rambling, but it seemed there was no simple way to explain things after all. He gazed vaguely at the hastily painted cinderblock walls. They were off white and reminded him of what prison ought to look like. “Would you be terribly upset if I threw a bucket of paint at these walls some time?”

 

“Not terribly.”

 

“I suck at painting though - It'd be everywhere.”

 

“Do what you like. This place is as much yours as it is mine.”

 

“Bright yellow?”

 

Seifer's mouth twisted in poorly veiled disgust.

 

“Zebra stripes?”

 

“I seriously doubt you have the patience for that.”

 

“Hmn,” Hayner considered. “Maybe you're right. It'd look cool though.”

 

“Yeah, it would.” His voice turned serious, “Are you going to tell me the rest?”

 

“I'm trying,” he sighed heavily as he forced his mind back to the past. He flung the comforter off, suddenly feeling like it was suffocating him. He ran a hand haphazardly through his hair, and told what he could remember of that last night at home. How his mother had tried many times, unsuccessfully to break things off with his dad even before then. He tried not to see his father's face in his head, dark and distorted with rage. Tried not to recall the sound of splitting wood as he ripped the doorframe out of the wall. “He was completely out of his mind I guess, since it was the closest she had gotten to leaving him. She'd had a restraining order on him, and he'd had to leave the house maybe a month before.” He laughed shortly. “We were supposed to move out that week too. Half of our stuff was already boxed up. She hadn't told him. It was our bad luck he just happened to come by. Afterwards, I woke up at Gran's.”

Brought there by who? Seifer wondered. “So what happened with your mom?”

 

Hayner shrugged. “No idea.” And that was the worst part. “If Gran knows anything, she hasn't told me. But I think we both expected her to come back for me at some point. I always wondered - was she alive somewhere? I hoped so… because I couldn't make myself think of the alternative.”

 

Seifer nodded to himself. It explained why Hayner was wary of trusting people, and why he had such a strong reaction to violence. It was amazing they'd come this far. The one thing it didn't explain was his reservation with their relationship. “So what does that have to do with not being 18 yet, and the stuff with your grandma?”

 

“I never said anything to her about it - but I promised her I wouldn't make her worry by doing the same thing as my mum. I figured 18 is like reaching adulthood, and she would be able to trust my judgment by then…”

 

Seifer sighed. “I think your judgment will be just as bad in a year, or five.”

 

“What's that supposed to mean?”

 

“I mean, you're bound by a promise you never actually made, and you're breaking it in all the ways that count. The only thing you aren't doing is being upfront about it.” What the hell am I saying? Sounds like I am encouraging him to shut things down…

 

“I tried to keep it, but you were kind of insistent.”

 

Seifer thought back to that first time, using the blonde's naivety and confusion to his advantage. The stuttered protests… the untested lust that swam in those brown eyes... Could you blame him for pushing the issue? “Yeah, well you didn't fight all that hard.”

 

Hayner glared, his cheeks burning hot. “What was I supposed to do? You shut me down at every turn.” Half naked, hot and wanting… not to mention, on top of me - how could I fight that?? “You had an unfair advantage.” Your soft lips moving needily against mine like you planned to devour me. Your eyes promising me I'd die happy.

 

Seifer gave him a smug look.

 

Hayner chucked a pillow at his head.

 

“Watch it, brat,” he warned with a smile. He launched the pillow back at Hayner, catching him in the face and making him fall over.

 

“Ummfh!”

 

“You know Thelma would hate it if she knew you were lying to her, right?”

 

A muffled and sullen `yes' sounded from underneath the pillow.

 

“And you know you aren't doomed to repeat your parent's mistakes?”

 

“Maybe,” Hayner gasped into the pillow as he felt fingers trail over the curve of one hip. His cargo pants must've slipped down a bit, with how far that touch was able to go unimpeded.

 

“You realize you are just being stubborn about this then?”

 

A hot mouth followed the path the fingers took. “Mmnnnnn. No.”

 

“It's important to you to keep this up?”

 

Hayner felt the words vibrate against his stomach. A distracting hand was moving up his thigh. “Till I'm 18, yeah,” he choked out.

 

“Fine. But I meant what I said before. I need to see you more.”

 

The pillow was lifted from Hayner's head, and he blinked from the sudden light.

 

“And when I want to see you like this,” he said smoothly, ghosting his palm over the front of Hayner's pants making him bite his lip with a whimper. “I might just invite myself over your place at night.”

 

“I'll… get you a key,” Hayner said with difficulty. “Can't have you picking the lock each time…” Someone would be bound to notice.

 

“Oh? I thought you'd fight me on this.”

 

Hayner closed his eyes as Seifer's hands teased and tormented him. His back arched when a hand closed around him through the cloth. It had been a long time since they'd had the chance to be together like this. Too long, if being ready to go at it twice in a row was any indication. “No, `cause you're right,” he breathed. Seifer was stealthy. He'd have no problem sneaking in and out of the house. It would be less suspect than anything else.

 

“I'll fix my board, if you really want to skate so bad.”

 

“I do, I still haven't - haven't learned… that…Aaaaah,” Hayner's hands fisted the sheets, his mouth falling open. Why was Seifer so good at making him an incoherent mess?

 

“Oh, I have plenty to teach you.”

 

Hayner shuddered as the blonde thug licked him slowly and expertly. He almost lost it when he felt that mouth engulf him, sucking him in. It wasn't often that either of them went down on the other, but when it happened it was mind blowing. Eddies of warmth traveled over his length. Slick pressure building tense and eager in his body as the sensations worked him over.

 

Then, everything compounded suddenly, and his hips were arching off the bed as he felt his release pulled from him in shuddering waves. He collapsed bonelessly, quite sure that if he hadn't been ravenously hungry, he'd have fallen right asleep.

 

His euphoria dimmed around the edges after a few moments, and he felt Seifer get off the bed. He cracked an eye open.

 

“Your stomach sounds as hungry as I feel,” Seifer said ruefully as he donned his shirt. “Here.” He tossed Hayner's shirt at him. “I'll buy.”

 

“I told you - ,” Hayner started in protest as he pulled his shirt over his head.

 

Seifer scoffed. “You don't have to be a girl to get taken out to dinner.” He ruffled a hand over Hayner's hair, making it much messier than it already was. “Don't be an idiot.”

 

“I know that, you ass.” He swatted the hand away. “It was you trying to appease me with fine dining that sounded all wrong.”

 

Seifer laughed. “If you think that's all it takes to placate a chick who feels wronged…” he shook his head ruefully. “You owe me for saving you from all that.”

 

“Maybe I don't owe you since I never got the chance to decide that on my own.”

 

“I'm telling you, they're not for everybody. You aren't missing a thing.” Seifer switched gears, “What do you want, pizza? Mexican? Burgers?”

 

“You were going to mollify me with fast food?! I want steak. And Pence seems happy with Olette.”

 

“Yeah? And what do they do when they hang out?”

 

“Er…” Hayner paused to think about it a moment. “I think he goes with her when she goes shopping, and he goes to see her play her violin recitals and stuff…”

 

“Sound like fun to you?”

 

“Not really.”

 

“See? That's what I'm trying to say. It's not just about who you'd sleep with, it's about finding someone you'd want to be around even when you're not having sex.”

 

“Since when are you all philosophical?”

 

“It happens.”

 

“I can kinda see your point. I guess I just never really thought of it like that.”

 

“You know,” Seifer drawled as they headed down the street. “Steak isn't cheap, I might not be able to get that and fix my deck.” That was a bald faced lie, and he didn't bother to mask it well. He felt a smile tugging the corner of his mouth even as he said it.

 

“So order yourself a potato, I'm sure it'll go great with the view you'll have of my steak.”

 

 

___________________________________

fin