Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Strings Attached ❯ A Speedy Farewell ( Chapter 34 )

Chapter Thirty-Four

A Speedy Farewell

 

Together in the cafeteria, the group of Garden members gathered for a final meal before splitting. It took three long tables placed together to accommodate the group of twelve. Placed center stage despite Squall's hatred of it, the room was unusually crowded considering many of the cadets were on vacation.

 

Though refusing to give a farewell speech, Squall was resigned to accepting every want for a handshake and bid of good luck in all his future endeavors. Quistis seemed rather pleased with herself every time a group of cadets approached to say goodbye to Squall. It was also rather amusing that they came in groups, too afraid to approach the former Commander individually.

 

As a late arriving guest, Rinoa sought Squall out to practically kowtow in apology for her father. Having had another falling out with the General, she was all too pleased to be seen smiling brightly at the reporter's snapshot of the motley crew dining together, supporting the side her father was against.

 

Shortly after escorting the single reporter off Garden grounds, Raijin returned with tears brimming in his eyes. Practically falling atop Seifer, it took both the pushing of the displeased ex-knight and the pulling of Fujin to remove the muscleman.

 

Though any lunch shouldn't have taken more than an hour, the hustle and bustle of the dining hall only seemed to increase as time carried on. The general mood among the large group of friends became subdued, everyone seeming to have taxed their own moments of showing either excitement or sadness.

 

With a mixed expression between jealousy and superiority, Seifer stared into the yellow eyes of Squall's pet cat. He held the creature up by its scruff, becoming increasingly upset by the fact that it simply hung as if comfortable in his hold. “Your cat is mocking me,” Seifer muttered when the feline continued to show no discomfort, as if he weren't the least bit intimidating.

 

“Put him down,” Squall chastised before turning his attention back to Selphie.

 

“It wants something,” Seifer said again, demanding Squall's attention for even the most ridiculous reasons.

 

Sighing, Squall finally gave in and focused his attention on the blond. Turning in his seat, he explained, “Set him in your lap and pet him.”

 

Holding obvious distain for getting cat hair on his either his white dress shirt or black pants, he moved his arm about slowly, watching the lazy sway of the cat go with it. “Well what's the point in that? Why do you even have a cat? He's never around anyway, let's leave him.” This wasn't the first time he'd made the point, but he felt the need to make it again, and to continue reiterating until Squall admitted to not really liking the creature.

 

“No!” Selphie cried in outrage. “You can't leave that cute kitten here.”

 

“Tilmitt,” Seifer grumbled as he set the fur ball in his lap like instructed. “I'm taking the cute kitten with me. What I'm suggesting is leaving this flee bitten hairball with legs behind.”

 

Bright green eyes narrowed as Selphie huffed and crossed her arms. Gabriel was like a pet to them all, always being traded off depending on whom the little critter scampered off to. “You're just jealous because Squall loves Gabriel more,” she accused, breaking into a fit of giggles seconds later at the sour expression that crossed Seifer's face.

 

“I can take him,” Rinoa interjected from several seats away. “Though, he's never liked me much, or Angelo. But I don't mind if it's too troublesome to take him with you.” She had been the one to pick the stray cat up off the streets of Timber. Considering she'd saved the animal from a tomcat life of starvation, she'd been a little put off to discover Gabriel much preferred the distant Commander who rarely offered so much as a scratch behind the ears.

 

“Gabriel would be sad without his master,” Selphie said. Sticking her lower lip out in a pouting plead, she clasped her hands together and turned her watery gaze on the former Commander.

 

Rolling his eyes, Squall looked away. He'd already made up his mind, so there was no need for further debate. Recently he hadn't exactly played host to the black furred feline, not when Seifer occupied his bed each night. Before the blond's return, Gabriel had been around almost everyday, always sleeping on his bed on the rare occasions that he'd return to his apartment for the night.

 

“Gabriel stays here,” Squall said evenly. With a small frown, he shifted his chair so that his legs weren't under the table so much. Gratefully accepting the room, the cat finally made the change from Seifer's lap to his.

 

“Well, Greta loves him, so no worries baby,” Zell assured with a sharp toothed grin.

 

Nodding his appreciation, Squall was surprised to feel some relief in the matter, never really believing he held any attachments for the animal. Truthfully, Gabriel had been a welcome presence. Since Seifer's return, he supposed the feline understood that he no longer needed a pet for company, thus the continued absence.

 

“Fucking fur ball,” the blond cursed as he sucked on a scratched finger. “I'm telling you that thing hates me.”

 

Squall scoffed at the idea. Although, Seifer had technically taken up the cat's favorite haunting spots in his bed, which could certainly arouse territorial anger. However, Seifer was often an ass and the only violent tendencies Gabriel had were towards intruders and annoying ex-sorceress' knights. There really was no surprise.

 

With a hand resting on the soft stomach of the curled up creature, Squall glanced down at a smitten cat. The vibrating purrs he felt were contradicting of the thin scratch in Seifer's finger. “Don't poke him and he won't scratch you,” he muttered with a small smirk at the knight's confrontational nature.

 

“So we're all set then, for our transfers and everything?” Selphie said lightly.

 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Squall finished saying what he was discussing with the copper haired woman before Seifer interrupted. “Rui is not transferring with you.”

 

“But why?” the energetic pilot immediately protested.

 

“Darlin', start counting your blessings and leave it alone,” Irvine drawled from his place next to his girlfriend, both of them directly across from Seifer and Squall. His hand mysteriously slipping beneath, a strangled yelp escaped the cheerful woman before a light blush came to her cheeks.

 

Out of sight, out of mind was exactly what Irvine needed when it came to Squall. Trabia was calling to him, with cold nights that required body heat and an energetic woman to meet his insatiable urges.

 

“He's important to the new curriculum,” Quistis stated, expressing her support of Squall's denial about the third transfer.

 

Realizing defeat for the first time, Selphie let the matter go. It had been a long shot anyway. Sniffing, she leaned forward to better stare down the row of tables they'd placed together. “Sorry Rui, looks like no more festival planning together.”

 

White as a sheet and his fingers crossed beneath the table, the dark haired boy slouched in his chair. “What a shame,” he muttered in return. The idea of going to Trabia had him tied up in a nervous knot since the bouncy pilot first mentioned it. All that snow and being around instructor Tilmitt all the time, it was a nightmare he'd luckily avoided. A nice woman to be sure, Selphie Tilmitt was one person he could only take in small quantities.

 

Irvine chuckled at the boy's reaction, knowing his little masochist could be a handful. Turning his focus onto Squall, he studied impassive features for a long moment. His hand gave a firm squeeze to his little lady's thigh as his desire for the brunet stirred.

 

“Zell,” Squall said quietly, not needing to speak loudly when the spiky haired blond was at his other side. “Would you mind taking him?”

 

“Not at all,” Zell returned, clenching his fist in a show of confidence.

 

“I love cats,” a thus far silent Greta commented from Zell's other side.

Using the excuse to place his hand near Squall's crotch, Seifer roughly pet the purring ball of fur. “No more table scraps for it, Chicken-wuss. It's gotten fat.”

 

“What'd you call me?!” Zell cried, immediately standing from his place and glaring at the ex-knight in challenge.

 

“Old habits Dincht, you can't kill a man for that,” Seifer said calmly, silently wishing he could hang the short boxer up on a nail somewhere, but knowing it would result in at least a week of no sex.

 

Grumbling angrily, Zell allowed himself to be directed back to his seat by his wife.

 

“Seifer, stop it,” Squall hissed.

 

“Stop what? I didn't start anything with Ch-Dincht,” the blond defended.

 

Stormy blue eyes narrowed in accusation. “Pet the cat, not me,” the brunet bit out in explanation.

 

“Whoops,” Seifer intoned mockingly. “My bad.” Before he could dare to stroke the front of Squall's pants again, a swiping paw led to claws raking across the back of his hand. Jerking his hand away, he glared at the playful creature. Though the attack hadn't even broken the skin, he felt rising anger that anything would dare stop him from touching what was his. “Maybe we should take him with us and feed him to the first beastie we find,” Seifer suggested.

 

Squall almost laughed, but managed to school himself in time. In a show of defiance against Seifer's wishes, he reached to the knight's near empty plate and tore a piece of turkey sticking out of a partially eaten sandwich. Feeding it to Gabriel, he couldn't stop quiet laughter at the expression of sheer outrage that came over the handsome blond's features.

 

**

 

“Headmaster Martine is having a ball over this, but he still doesn't know about my support for you,” Xu stated with a smile. “I imagine having Zephlar's loyalty will be a surprise as well.”

 

Shifting uncomfortably, struggling to keep his hands from drowning in the sleeves of the borrowed hoodie he wore, Squall nodded his understanding. “There are files that Quistis can give you if you ever need them. It's just a few skeletons in the closet that I used before.” He still felt rather ashamed at using such a cheap method as blackmail.

 

Standing on the train platform, it was only Xu seeing them off. Squall had been stern in his preference that the group didn't come all the way into town. Xu had a few matters to discuss, however, and had offered to drive them.

 

Having packed lightly considering they weren't just going on vacation for a week or two, Squall and Seifer were going to travel by train under the pretense that the longer trip would give them some time together. In truth, Squall was reluctant to drag the inevitable departure on any longer. The idea of taking Ragnarok to shorten the trip to a mere half hour was not appealing.

 

The only trouble was the crowd. News had leaked concerning his resignation, but for the sake of keeping wild rumors under control very little publicity had been given. A simple statement had been published; barely two sentences that expressed Squall's wish for stepping down so that he might take time off now that Garden's affairs were squared away.

 

However, outside of Balamb Garden Squall could hardly control the amount of exposure and number of reporters. A decent crowd gathered near the train station, his itinerary somehow spreading like wildfire.

 

After being bombarded with questions such as whether or not a forty percent disapproval rating of his relationship had affected his decision to resign, he wasn't exactly in a good mood. He almost wanted to ask where the polls were coming from and why anyone cared enough to establish such percentages, but the guiding presence of Seifer had lead him into and out of the sea of reporters quickly enough for his own sanity. He almost felt nauseous surrounded so freely like that, having rarely experienced it since being Commander meant crowd control.

 

Seifer was on the train, stashing their luggage away. They had a bit of time before the train was scheduled to leave, but their plan to refresh their item stock was shot down when it meant dealing with the crowd again. So, there was little to do except wait. The platform was free of any persons without tickets, Xu being a special exception that was easily granted.

 

“To be quite honest, I'm a little nervous to see you go,” Xu commented as her predecessor gazed towards the train's open doorway.

 

Blinking in his confusion, Squall gazed at the dark haired woman. “Nervous?” he spoke in disbelief.

 

“Consider the title I have to live up to,” she returned with a smile, obviously not letting the situation get to her, but still using the last chance to speak her mind.

 

Shaking his head, Squall crossed his arms and gave a small smile of reassurance. “Don't doubt yourself and listen to the others, and remember there's a choice in everything.”

 

“Oh?” the new Commander lilted playfully. “I've heard stories about you. Listening to Quisty's advice was not your forte.”

 

Scoffing, Squall elaborated, “I said listen, not follow.”

 

Xu just laughed, oddly reassured by the younger man's words. Perhaps it was the simple reminder of having people she needed to listen to, which in turn meant having people to help her if she needed it.

 

With a frown of reluctance, Squall searched his pockets. Eventually settling for an old gum wrapper crumpled inside the front pocket of Seifer's sweatshirt and a chewed on pen of his, he wrote down a stream of numbers.

 

Dark brown eyes followed the brunet's movements with curiosity. Accepting the offered wrapper, she glanced at the phone number written.

 

“It's Seifer's cell number. The odds of reaching me with it are better than any numbers someone gives you to reach me directly.”

 

With an odd weight of cherishing gratitude, the young woman carefully folded the flimsy piece of foil paper and pocketed it. “I feel like this is the end of an era somehow,” she stated.

 

Understanding expressed in his eyes, Squall simply gazed at the woman for a prolonged moment. She was possibly the only person who hadn't expressed great depth of emotion about any of it, aside from initially being elated at becoming Commander. He didn't know her that well, but she'd been his instructor for several of his classes.

 

“Remember to bring those Guardians back as soon as you find them, or I'll have a mass riot on my hands if you don't visit.”

 

“Leonhart, let's go!” Seifer called out from the entrance of the train.

 

Saluting to Commander Yashime, Squall turned as hurried over to the beckoning knight.

 

**

 

Cornering a silent brunet, Seifer towered over Squall from behind. Placing his hands on the windowsill, he pressed forward so that there was no place to go. Outside the window was quickly passing scenery, flat plains that were soon going to become churning waters. The sun was setting, but they had no view of it.

 

“You seemed in a rush,” the blond stated, his baritone voice intimidating to anyone who didn't know him well.

 

Unfazed by Seifer's bullying technique, Squall continued to stare past the cold glass, unmoving even as his personal space was breached. “Teary farewells annoy me,” he supplied in explanation.

 

“I think everyone expected to get at least another day out of you.” In truth, Seifer was happy to have left. He was a firm believer in setting a plan and following it, even if it was a very vague plan that didn't even have a set destination. However, it was quite apparent after the farewell party the previous day that Tilmitt and the others were sort of assuming their favorite Commander would hang around for a few days longer.

 

“They expected that I was going to change my mind,” Squall stated firmly. Such a thing would never have happened, but he could see the hope clearly in all their eyes. Even Xu seemed oddly expectant of such a turn of events, as if he could ever strip her title away after giving it.

 

“A man of your word,” the blond commented, neither supporting nor opposing such a quality. He'd known Squall kept his word long ago, never breaking a promise. Similarly, Squall never made a promise that couldn't be kept.

 

“They'll get over it,” Squall added.

 

Moving his hands to gently grasp narrow shoulders, Seifer massaged away obvious tension. With a broad grin, he whispered, “Because it isn't goodbye forever.”

 

Wide gray-blue eyes stared at the vague reflection of the ex-knight behind him. Scowling moments later, he didn't comment. It was annoying how Seifer could read his thoughts at times, even getting it down to the very same word choice he would have used if he'd chosen to speak aloud.

 

“We've got this big compartment all to ourselves and at least an hour to kill until we reach FH. What could we possibly do?”

 

“Talk,” Squall suggested with sarcasm.

 

“Yes, we could talk. Or we could try out the new lube I got, make sure it works properly,” the blond hinted as his arms encircled the brunet's smaller frame.

 

“Sounds good,” Squall agreed.

 

“Eh? Really?” Seifer asked excitedly, not thinking it would have been that easy.

 

With an affirmative nod, Squall shifted to turn around in the loose embrace, placing his back to the window. “While you do that, I'll finish researching the Island Closest to Heaven.”

 

Brows drawn as if in agony, Seifer questioned, “What?”

 

Impassively, Squall informed, “The bathroom should be at the other end of the train.”

 

Unamused, Seifer glowered at his joking partner. “Bad kittens get spanked,” he announced with a satisfied grin at the look of sudden alarm on Squall's face.

 

Not even given the chance to protest, Squall found his world turned upside down as he was hefted onto a broad shoulder. Though determined to set his foot down and kindly explain to the knight that any form of spanking would lead to an untimely death, he was beaten to the punch line as a firm hand suddenly came down on his conveniently displayed backside.

 

Blushing furiously, Squall gave an angry growl. “Put me the hell down you idiot,” he hissed. His words were only met with another slap. There was an awkward moment of uncertainty for the brunet when he realized Seifer was actually hitting fairly hard, a slight sting felt even through denim jeans. It didn't hurt, he just couldn't tell how adamant Seifer was being or whether he should just let the blond have his fun.

 

“Your lack of struggling leads me to believe you're enjoying it,” Seifer stated, bringing his hand down once more on the younger man's luscious ass. “Shall I do this properly?” he questioned, entirely elated at the prospect of exposing Squall's firm cheeks and taking him over his knee.

 

Pushed to the brink, Squall reached a hand around to his back and snuck it beneath the baggy hoodie. Once armed, he held his trusty dagger against the ex-knight's side, the tip dangerously nudging against the blond's ribs.

 

Disheartened, Seifer sighed. “Okay, I'll save the kinky punishment for my next birthday.”

 

“That would be wise,” Squall hissed, hardly caring if his words didn't squash out any possibility of the knight's so called kinky punishment.

 

Once placed back on his feet, Squall stalked away without another word, distancing himself as much as possible. Taking a moment to replace the dagger, finding it was more difficult to button the small clasp on the leather sheath than to undo it, he eventually settled in the booth like seating area. He had his laptop resting there, quickly turning it on and losing himself in more research.

 

Patiently, Seifer observed his sullen kitten. He was more amused than ever, finding the snubbing air to be exactly how a pet or child would act after being punished. He made a silent vow to exact various forms of mild torture and train Squall to love it. He doubted he'd be able to work his way up to spanking in any less than ten years, but he felt certain that if he were subtle about it, he could still encourage quite a lot.

 

Straightening from his slouch near the window, Seifer sauntered over to the moody brunet. Despite the obvious restrictions against touching, he sidled up beside Squall instead of across from. He was about to attempt the impossible.

 

If Seifer insisted on being physical regardless of any outstanding argument, he was confident Squall would give in. However, it would only be physical, which was why he generally made peace first. This time he was attempting to sway Squall completely, though he was realistically expecting to wind up with a broken nose for it.

 

Slow and steady was the way to go in such situations. Feigning interest in the never ending pages about Guardian Forces, he scooted as close as possible and casually draped an arm around the back of the seat. He noted the slight twitch of annoyance from Squall, but manned his position when no weapons were drawn.

 

Seifer would have liked to known the brunet was armed in the first place. He hadn't thought there was a place for that stashed dagger without the tight strapping belts that Squall wore with the leather pants. For future reference, he placed the sheath to be somewhere on the younger man's torso. It was the damn hoodie that kept him from feeling it, his favorite grey hoodie to be exact. While it looked damn sexy on Squall with all that excess material, boosting his own ego with the fact that he was larger, it consequently kept him from feeling the lithe body beneath.

 

Conscious of the amount of time the train ride would take, Seifer calmly read along about various urban legends that were some of the most ridiculous stories he'd ever read. Aside from barely containing his laughter several times, he had to stifle his yawns at other parts.

 

After a painstaking half hour of good behavior, Seifer was confident he could move on. No longer tense at his close proximity, Squall was even subtly leaning into his half embrace.

 

Waiting for the right opportunity, he shifted to lean forward and take charge of scrolling, feeling confident the brunet would have done it only seconds after anyway. As he settled back, he let his extended arm move so that his fingers could gently play with Squall's hair.

 

Unable to ignore the odd behavior, Squall cast a warning glare, but found nothing in Seifer's profiled expression that betrayed any ulterior motive. Jade green eyes were focused on the screen, moving very subtly back and forth along with the text. Lips pressed tightly together, he turned back and swallowed his annoyance over Seifer not annoying him as expected.

 

Though suspicious, Squall found it was easy to allow the blond to continue. Seifer's odd play of gently slipping lengthy strands of his hair between his fingers felt sort of nice. It wasn't until the ex-knight's fingers brushed over his ear that he understood. The small shiver that ran through him was evidence enough that his body was wholly responsive.

 

Frowning, he glared to the side once more, angered further by the seemingly unaware expression of concentration. Slipping away, thankful that the seat curved around in a semi circle, Squall kept going until he was opposite Seifer. Standing, he muttered something about the bathroom before leaving.

 

Seifer waited until the door was shut before cursing. It had been a valiant attempt, even if he'd crashed and burned. Number two on the list of forbidden actions was spanking Squall's ass without permission, right below wrestling Squall into wearing high heals, which he'd thankfully known not to try.

 

TBC…