Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ In Time With You ❯ Something's there ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Seifer Almasy squinted after opening the front door of his apartment to see Squall Leonhart standing outside. "I'm curious, if I remove the number off my place, will you forget where I live?"

"Are you gonna let me in?"

Seifer smirked. He shrugged out a hand before stepping aside. "At your own risk." He led the way to the living room. "Should we jump straight to the "no" or do you want drinks?"

"I'll take water." He sat. "While you're getting it, just think about the fact that Fujin and Raijin still go." He heaved a sigh when hearing a light chuckle from the kitchen.

When the ex-knight returned with drinks in hand, he gave one to his visitor. He took a seat in the armchair beside the two-seater where Squall is.

"Why do you think that matters?" Seifer wondered. "The real question is what reason do I have to go back?" He crossed his arms. "I have a job at the autoshop, I take online courses, I can't seem to ditch you or Fujin and Raijin, Irvine calls now and then.. When do I get a chance to miss anyone?"

Squall's brows furrowed with questions. He didn't know that Irvine called Seifer. Why? When? For how long? Do the others do the same? If the others care, then why aren't they trying to convince him to come back as well? They can't really think that Seifer is happy passively living as a commoner.

"I have too much self worth than to be spending my days telling everyone to fuck off."

"You wouldn't."

"I would. Ask anybody, ask Kinneas - isn't he going to Balamb right now?" He sipped his drink then put the glass on the table. "We can't fix everyone's misfortune with so-that's-how-it-was. I don't have to be a Se-.. Cadet, to live my life." He corrected himself, although the elevation of Squall's left eyebrow let him know he'd been figured out from the slip-up. Great.

"Seifer, there's still time to make SeeD."

"What is SeeD even worth? Hmm?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. At its core, I was more of a SeeD member than any of you. I was at Matron's side."

Squall shook his head. "That's not what it was about. SeeD were created to be by the sorceress's side, yes, but not to do evil but to protect her from herself and others from her." He explained.

"Who told you that makes sense, Cid?"

Squall rolled his eyes. "You'd have stability. You can get jobs.."

"Who'd hire me when my face was all over television?" He turned his head, cupping the back of his ear with his hand. "Hmm? Did you reply outward or inward?"

Squall narrowed his eyes on his rival.

"I don't need to go back. I don't want to go back. SeeD was important, but at the end of the day it's just a title for someone to do what I had done during the war."

Squall set his untouched drink down on the coffee table. "Fine. But don't ignore us - not any of us. If we reach out to you, take the damned offer."

Seifer smirked. "Are you fishing? Wanna know if anyone besides you and Kinneas has contacted me?"

Squall remained quiet, although he would like to know.

"There's the door. See you next interrogation."

"No. I'll see you Sunday - for dinner."

"Dinner? You haven't earned a lunch date and you're assuming that far in our friendship." He joked.

Squall's dry expression told Seifer what he thought about the joke. "I mean it, Seifer… Think about going back."

"It would be like this regardless.. I've aged-out for living on grounds, this is all of your last year… I'm not going back. So," he flicked his fingers towards the door.

…

That had been earlier in the day after breakfast. He's now with Irvine, who asked him to go T-Boarding of all things.

"What would you choose if you could have a pet?" Irvine asked. He's leading the way towards the largest stretch of open area outside the Garden.

"What?"

He only asked because he wasn't sure if the topic had been a sincere asking or if maybe he'd heard wrong, and Irvine had actually said: "D'you wanna make a bet?" That was possible. He's never been on a T-Board, from what Irvine said before suggesting that they do it, he's never been on one either.

"If you could have any pet?" He repeated. "What would you choose?"

'He'll probably laugh at me.' Thought Squall. He stepped over a divot in the grass covered soil. "You go first." He insisted.

"I'd pick a wolf."

"Because you're like a lone wolf?"

"Why do you add intonation on 'you're'?"

"Because I recall someone being all sentimental that we were all together again, when we were at Trabia."

Irvine scoffed. "You hard-introverts are all the same, you see a high-functioning version of an introvert and you assume they're extroverts. Tsk tsk." He stopped walking when he figured they were far enough away from anything to cause damage; he set the T-board down on the grass. "How do you know I'm not thinking 'Finally, I can breathe' once we part ways?"

"Are you?"

"I mean… I love all you guys, so I'm not savagely thinking in that way. But, the comfort level elevates." He bobbed his outstretched palm up and down. "I'll never stop being happy we're all back together though."

Squall could understand that completely. He feels the same way.

"So, come on, animal?"

"A.. and don't laugh, but, a lion."

"I figured as much," he pointed in the direction of Garden. "You've got a lion on your blade handle and a one on the case."

"Is that so weird?"

"Naah, I'm happy you've got interests. I've heard guys at school talking about ya being an experimental AI robot."

'Idiots. Can't a guy just keep to himself?' Wondered Leonhart.

"What about normal?" Irvine called Squall back from his thoughts. "I'd go with a Beveren."

"Huh?"

"It's a rabbit."

"Oh." Thinking about it, Squall replied. "Probably a fish." Seeing the expression that flashed on his companion's face, he teased lightly. "Thought I'd say a cat, didn't you?"

"Actually, yeah,"

"I want something that I don't have to feel like I'm abandoning when I have days gone missions." He stepped onto the board. "The stores must have automatic feeders by now."

Irvine was doing his best to not laugh. Squall can be really simple when you get past his hard exterior. He's cute in the non-common use of the word. He would cringe with a need to vomit if the guy held a teddy bear or something. But, just hearing him say randomly rational things is cute.

Their conversation died as their gaze looked upon the activity.

"How do these work?" Kinneas asked.

"I don't know, but with how serious Zell was about buying him a new one, we'd better figure it out quickly."

"Yeah, he threatened me the same way when I asked to borrow one." He stepped onto the board. "I didn't know he had two."

"Technically three; he never did get back the one that was confiscated from him before we left for a mission." He stepped onto his.

The pair stayed paused for a few minutes wondering what to do to activate it and prevent injury. The sniper snapped his fingers before removing his phone from his back pocket. "Alrighty, let's see…" He looked up T-Boards. "Heh heh, duh." He parted his feet to position them on a foot design on the board. "Says we put our feet on the image and shift our weight to steer."

Squall spotted the placements then positioned his feet on them.

The boards flashed. A soft hum filled their ears.

"Whoa.." They panicked in verbal sync.

They looked like a mirror image. Both looking about them as the board elevated, both with arms spread out but low to assist in balancing.

"Now what?" Squall asked.

"Weight on the right leg, ease up to slow down?"

"You sound uncertain.." He could envision something broken between the two of them. But which of them would it be?

"Lightly."

They put pressure down on their right leg and the board shot off! They staggered along sideways until they both fell onto the grass. The hoverboard sailed away before sliding through the grass and shutting off without contact.

"What happened to 'lightly'?" Irvine asked no one.

Squall wondered the same, he was fairly sure he pressed lightly. He face palmed that he fell off of something a guy like Zell Dincht can ride so effortlessly.

Irvine raised an eyebrow to the self berating. "I heard that Seifer gave you that scar, are you sure you didn't crack your skull from face-palms in agitation?" He grunted when Squall smacked him on the forehead.

Squall rolled his hip off his side to sit up then he stood. He's not gonna lose to that thing.

"That's the spirit. Try, try again… That was what you were thinking?"

The sniper stood up as well, then followed the gunblader towards the boards. It took two more falls and a near collision before they got the hang of it. The pair zipped back and forth racing to a designated distance. They even played stay in the shade following along with clouds drifting in the wind.

Irvine and Squall spent two hours together riding the boards. Around 2:16 they called it an afternoon and went for lunch separately since Squall wanted a burger and Irvine wanted seafood tacos.

They returned to Balamb Garden together, making jokes about the other's lack of skill.

"See ya," Irvine said before parting ways with his friend once they were past the entrance.

Squall nodded a reply. He was about to go search for Zell, but he paused for a minute as something tried to form in his mind. Something small.. Oh, well..