Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodcross Key: Arc 2: Reversals ❯ Part 8 ( Chapter 8 )

****Part 8:
 

        Squall woke to a banging on his door. Damn! Damn! Damn! Was there some sort of plot to make sure he never got enough sleep? Or finished a dream? It better not be Rinoa on the other side of that door. He couldn't be held responsible for what he did if it was.

        "Squall!" a familiar, energetic voice yelled, a, thankfully, male voice, though he still wasn't happy about having his sleep and another of his strange dreams interrupted. But at least he wouldn't have to deal with Rinoa about it. And how the hell did that boy manage to be so lively first thing in the morning. It should be against Garden rules. Hell, against the law in general.

        With a grumble he rose from his bed and shuffled to the door, too irritable to care that he was only wearing his cotton boxers. Whoever was at the door would just have to deal with it.

        "What do you want, Zell?" he growled as he flung open the door. The wrong golden hair and wrong blue eyes, and much too short and slender to be right, met his scowl. "It better be important."

        Zell blinked. "What's the matter with you?"

        "Nothing," Squall replied flatly as he leaned rigidly against the doorframe, arms folded across his stomach. Should he bother to actually wake up completely or linger in the state of languor in which he currently existed? Knowing Zell there was probably no point in hoping to return to bed any time soon.

        "Come on. You don't fool me," Zell grinned, crossing his arms over his chest.

        "You did just wake me up! What do you expect?"

        "Oh, well you just seem grumpier than usual is all." The small blond shrugged.

        Squall glared at him.

        "Geez!" Zell said, waving his hands defensively. "I take that back...alot grumpier than usual, Grouch. Have a nightmare or somethin'? Rinoa bitchin` you out even when you`re asleep?"

        He smirked, nothing close to the arrogance or pure sexiness of Seifer's. And unlike Seifer's, Zell's was starting to piss him off. Maybe it was the reminder of what was lost in Seifer and of the dream where, for a few brief moments, he had found it again. Not that it really mattered why.

        "Not quite."

        "Oh?" Zell's blond pale blond brow raised, stretching the dark, exotic lines of his tattoo.

        Squall shook his head. "It was just a dream," he mumbled. "It's nothing. Just stunned me a little."

        "Woah!" Zell exclaimed, hopping back a step, blue eyes wide with surprise and a twinkle of humor. "Our Great fearless leader, Squall Leonhart, scared by a nightmare? Wow!"

        "I didn`t have a damn nightmare."

        "So what sort of dream was it then? It`s not like you`d have a sex dream...." Zell snickered.

        Why did everyone find the idea of him having a sex-life so amusing? He may not have the insatiable drive of someone like Irvine. Okay, he didn't have much of a drive at all. But that was nothing to find funny. He didn't think it was.

        Zell`s eyes roamed over him, studying him with an amused grin, then suddenly a bright pink blush stained his cheeks. Squall followed Zell`s stunned gaze downward to the obvious bulge in his black boxers and cursed. He should have realized before even answering the door the state he tended to wake in lately, but he had been too damn distracted with getting rid of whoever dared to disturb him again. Shit! Why did these things always happen to him? It was like he wore a `harass Squall' magnet around his neck or some such thing. Or maybe in his pants, since that's what everyone seemed so preoccupied with lately.

        He just stared at Zell with his most intimidating glare. Maybe if he showed no interest in the discovery or just acted like it wasn't there, Zell would avoid saying anything. Yeah, right! Like that would happen from the boy who speaks first and thinks later. Much later, if at all. He wasn't fool enough to hold his breath in hope of that one.

        Zell clapped a hand over his mouth, his true blue eyes wide. "Oh! Oh, shit! It was a sex dream, wasn't it?" he croaked. "Shit!...So... uh ..."

        Squall just continued to glare at him, saying nothing.

        Zell blinked several times, his face as red as his shirt, then dropped his hand, uncovering a growing sly grin. "Uh... What did you and Rinoa do, hmm?"

        Where the hell did that come from? He`d have to figure how he managed to divert Zell from pestering him about his dreams. Whatever it was could be useful in the future. Although Rinoa wasn`t much better of a change of topic. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

        "You know. In the dream. What did you do with her?"

        Dammit! He should have known better. Why did every thing in his life have to lead to Rinoa? One would think none of his supposed friends had anything more productive to do than study his supposed love-life. But then it was them who had pushed him into it in the first place. Damn duty!

        "Nothing," Squall muttered.

        "But what sort of sex dream is it if you don't do any...thing..." Zell's eyes widened again and he peered up into Squall's bored face like he was examining some exotic creature or artifact. "Oh! It wasn't her!" he exclaimed, giggling. "So who was it, stud-boy?"

        "None of your business, chicken-wuss." Squall couldn't dampen the smirk rising to his lips.

        The grin left Zell`s cute face, replaced by shock. "Huh? What'd you call me?"

        Perhaps he had found the magical `Zell Diversion` after all. It was oddly satisfying. He could understand why Seifer seemed to enjoy teasing the small blond so much. And somehow in it he felt closer to Seifer. Strange.

        "I'm not a chicken-wuss!" Zell huffed, plating his hands on his hips defiantly, his canine teeth flashing like fangs. It was rather funny. Zell couldn't intimidate a rabbit. "You think you're Seifer all a sudden or someting?"

        "Or something," he smirked.

        "Hmph." the blond lifted his chin, trying to look offended and dignified. "Well if you're trying to distract me, it ain't workin'."

        "Is that so, chicken-wuss?"

        "Yeah. So, was it anyone I know?"

        Oh, well. It had been worth it while it lasted. He have to rely on his own methods to get through this.

        "Come on, Squally. You can tell me. It will be our little secret." He once more flashed his teeth, but for a friendly gesture, not an intimidating one.

        "I am not going to talk about this, Dincht."

        "It was! Whoo hoo!" Zell cheered, punching him playfully on the shoulder. "So who?"

        He was not having a conversation with Zell about his erotic dreams. No way! He just glared.

        "Come on, man. You can tell me."

        No way! It was bad enough the hyper blond knew figured out about them in the first place. If Zell knew who they were about Squall wouldn't hear the end of it. Dreams about another guy would be enough trouble to endure, but for it to be known that the guy was Seifer, Zell would probably go into hysterics. Whether in laughter or anger, he couldn't be sure.

        "Was it Quistis?.."

        Quistis? He had to be kidding. She was like a bossy older sister. And Squall doubted she would take too much offense at that. She seemed to work so hard at the image.

        Zell sighed, his blond brows wrinkling. "Selphie?"

        Squall grunted. The only girl worse than Selphie was Rinoa. Oh well, so he couldn't be too indignant about it. Yet too cheerful did make him nervous. Very nervous.

        "Xu?"

        Huh? He barely remembered she was around most of the time, how would he even think to dream about her?

        "Nina?"

        Squall looked at him strangely. Who the hell was Nina?

        "You know, the girl in the library. The one who had a crush on me."

        Shrugging, still not quite remembering Nina, Squall stared at him.

        "Ooookay, guess not."

        Zell tapped his lips for several moments as he thought. "Edea?"

        Squall rolled his eyes.

        "Ultimecia?"

        Okay, Zell was just getting weird. Very weird! But that was nothing new. Squall gazed at him like the hyper blond had grown another head. Though he doubted another one would help. It would probably be as warped as the first.

        Kicking his foot at the doorframe in frustration, Zell groaned. "Damn, who else is there? Oh! Fujin! She`s kinda cute, in a scary sort of way."

        "I'll be sure to tell her you said that."

        "That's okay. No need to bother."

        "It's not a bother," Squall replied with a ghost of a smirk.

        "Dammit, Squall! I thought you said it was someone I knew?"

        Squall sighed. Zell would keep pestering him until Squall was officially insane. he just knew it! "It is."

        Zell scratched his head, his mouth quirked in agitation. "But I've gone through every girl I know and nothin'. You holding out on me?"

        "No." Hell, even Quistis knew almost when to quit. Zell probably didn't know the meaning of the word.

        "Then..."

        Everyone was always making such blatant and wrong assumptions about him. Maybe it was about time to shatter a few? Or at least let them know they were wrong, even if not telling them what was right. "I never said it was a girl."

        Zell looked like he was about to fall flat on his ass in shock. Still, his face paled then flushed a vivid red, his eyes wide blue moons in a sky of white. "Wah? You shittin' me?"

        Squall shrugged.

        "You have to be kidding!"

        "Since when do I kid?"

        Zell paused with a sigh. "True. But you have been acting weird lately. Come to think of it, Seifer has too..."

        At the mention of Seifer, for once, Zell had Squall`s attention. "What do you mean?"

        His head tilted slightly. " Well, I saw him yesterday in the cafeteria. He's been strange ever since the war and all, but this was different. I don't know... he seemed... broke. Some guys came up to him and were pulling some D.C. shit, like he used to when he was headof it, and he just sat there, lookin' almost lost or somethin'. The old Seifer... well no one would have been stupid enough to try to intimidate him in the first place."

        Squall turned and wandering across his room, plopping onto his bed. "So what happened?" Squall asked quietly.

        "Uh, well, not much. I couldn't see everything and it was over quick. It looked like they just talked to him, well, not nicely or anything. I think they hate him more than I ever thought I did. Like tens of times more. They walked away, looking all smug. He left right after, lookin' like someone killed his puppy and gave it to him for dinner." Zell shrugged. "But he kinda looked like that when he came in too."

        He needed to see Seifer. Obviously, readjusting to life after the war and after his kidnapping was going to be far more difficult than it had appeared. Seifer himself was enough of a hindrance, closing himself off like he had in the infirmary, without adding lingering hate on the part of some students.

        "Do...do you know what's the matter with him?"

        Squall looked up slowly. He had almost forgotten Zell was even there. "Yeah," he said softly. "For the most part, but it's up to him to tell but I don't think asking him is a good idea."

        "Oh..." Zell nodded. "You know, as much as he's tormented me over the years, I hate seeing him like this. I'd almost rather have him teasing me and calling me chicken-wuss again than the way he is now. It's almost like he's dead, but he's still walking around. It's creepy."

        Sighing, Squall closed his eyes, fighting back the tears so easily finding their way to the surface lately. "I know."

        The room fell into silence, even their breaths barely audible.

        Suddenly, Zell jolted to alertness. "Oh! Not to break up our happy moment, but we gotta get going."

        "Huh?" What was Zell talking about? Again.
 
        "Yeah, well we have that combat exhibition Cid planned two months ago to go to. Didn't know if you forgot. You've been rather distracted lately."

        "...Oh..." He had forgotten. Damn! The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was show-off fighting techniques, which only he and Seifer could use, to a bunch of underclassmen. Especially not when he needed to see Seifer. Seifer was more important than some stupid exhibition. But duty was duty. And as acting headmaster that duty was even greater.

        Squall sighed. "Okay, give me a minute to get dressed and I'll be right there."
 

(End part 8)

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