Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Lightning. ❯ Chapter, The Second: In Which Irvine Takes a Ride. ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter, The Second: In Which Irvine Takes a Ride.

Irvine sat in his room, contemplating his options. He had a big test coming up. This one was going to be hard; he'd need to get in some study time. He tapped his pen against his desk in thought. It was early yet, so he had time to plan his routine.

If he stayed in his room all day the evil blondes would eventually find him and take turns banging on his door and calling to him through it. That wasn't going to make studying any easier. The library would be safe until after breakfast. After that it would be one of the first places they would look for him.

He couldn't hide out in Squall's office because then he would have to explain to the commander how much things were really bothering him. He was fairly certain Selphie was giving the group, minus the blonde bullies, updates on how he was doing, but it wasn't like he was letting her know everything either.

But he was getting off track. Where was he going to study? He couldn't keep jumping around. He'd lose his train of thought and just have to restudy the material. They were making his life hell!

He could head out of the Garden and go find a nice place on the plains, but annihilating Bite Bugs every few moments while reading was going to be almost as annoying as Seifer and Zell.

Irvine signed. This was getting him nowhere. He glanced out his window and suddenly it hit him. His window gave him a lovely view of Balamb Town. That's where he could go. He could go into their library, find a quiet little alcove and study to his heart's content. He checked his wallet. And he even had enough to grab some lunch while he was there.

He picked up his glossy red apple and took a bite. What a great idea. It was just like one of those lame `keep your friends close and your enemies closer' lines, but better. They'd spend all day looking for him around Garden, and never even think to look in town. Ha, he was a genius.

The auburn haired cowboy carefully made his way out of Garden, making sure as few people as possible saw him leave. Didn't want Seifer and Zell to be able to ask around and figure out where he had gone off to.

He smiled once he was outside and strode down the path to Balamb, book-bag over one shoulder, Exeter over the other. This was going to be a nice, study filled, peaceful day.

Irvine walked down the main street of Balamb, sneaking passed Zell's house carefully… never know, the tattooed idiot could be visiting his mom. He made his way to the library and hid himself away in the most discreet little corner, even the library staff probably didn't even know it existed. He read through his text, looked over his notes, drew out diagrams: everything he would need to know for the test. The only time he stopped was to clear his head and have a quick lunch before back to his library hide-away.

By the time he decided he'd studied enough and left, the sky was already dark and the streetlights were shining brightly. Well, he certainly hadn't meant to stay out quite this late, but darn if `Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Para-magic' wasn't just the most interesting, long and tedious topic ever.

They should add “or Didn't Want” to that title.

At leassst you know it all now.

Yea, and no stupid blondes to get in my way either. Great day, really.

Irvine wrapped his duster more firmly around himself. It was starting to get chilly. It was autumn after all. Maybe the monsters would be huddling in their nests for warmth and leave him alone on his trek back.

He glanced up as he walked under the archway. He had heard something, a revving engine. Just ahead of him on the path was someone on a motorcycle. A pretty nice motorcycle too, dark red and blue. It was a Sleipnir (1). Nice ride…

The rider looked back at him. He was wearing a sleek, red helmet that matched the bike, the black visor down and making it impossible to see who was behind it. He seemed on the shorter side, but really, he was sitting on the bike with one foot on the ground to steady it. Wasn't the best stance to determine height.

The rider nodded his head in the direction of the Garden and Irvine suppose he was asking if that's where he was going too.

“Uh, yea, I'm headin' that way,” he said, shifting his book-bag on his shoulder.

The man on the motorcycle patted the back of the seat.

“No, that's okay. I'll just, like, walk. No problem.” He started walking but the guy patted the seat again. The wind decided right then was the opportune time to start blowing and make the night seem even colder. Irvine looked at his watch. He still had to make it back before curfew. “You wanna give me a ride?”

The rider nodded and shifted on the bike to steady it again.

“Well, since it is late and we have to, like, make curfew I guess it's alright.”

The rider shifted around in his seat, popping the back open to pull out a second, not quite as cool, helmet. He pointed to Irvine's bag and then to the compartment. What, could the guy not talk or something?

“Oh, okay.” Irvine put his book-bag where the helmet had been and stuck his hat safely next to it before putting on the helmet. He holstered his gun while the rider put the seat back down and then swung his leg over the bike.

He reached under the seat to where the little handles were and held on. The rider jerked the bike forward and then stopped it, causing Irvine to nearly fall off and then slam right into the other guy's back.

“Ooph…” Irvine looked at the back of the man's helmet before timidly placing his hands on the rider's hips. Those handles didn't make for a very comfy ride anyway, especially if you were tall.

Another start, jerk, and stop. The guy's shoulders were shaking a bit. He was laughing! Irvine glared. “What the hell are you doin'?” the cowboy asked a little perturbed.

The rider reached behind him and grabbed Irvine's hands, winding them securely around his waist, and causing the cowboy to press right up against him.

Irvine mentally groaned. “Look… I'm not gay, alright? But now we really do have to, like, get back to Garden.”

A leather gloved hand patted his arms gently then wound around the handles. He revved the engine again and tore off towards the Garden.

Irvine nearly shrieked like a girl and wrapped his arms tighter around the man's waist so as not to fall right off the back.

They arrived in the car park not too long after. Irvine got off, legs a little shaky, and took off the helmet, handing it to the rider, who took it, opened the seat and allowed Irvine to take his belongings before putting the helmet away. He turned off the bike and sat there, not removing his own.

“Uh… well, thank you for the ride. I'll be goin' then.”

The rider nodded and waved, and Irvine turned to leave. Once the auburn haired man was out of the car park and probably a good ways down the hall, gloved hands came up to grab hold of the helmet and pull it off.

The helmet was placed in his lap and his gloved hand came up to push messy blonde bangs away from his forehead and tattoo. He smirked to himself. “Worked perfectly.”

Flashback

Zell lay on his stomach on Seifer's bed, kicking his feet back and forth. “Your plan isn't working.”

“You're just impatient. It worked on you.”

“Woo, zippidee-doo-da-day. Teasing little Zell got him to realize he was gay. You don't even know if Irvine is.”

“But he is!”

Zell rolled his eyes. “Does he realize there is something called bisexualism?”

Seifer shrugged and dropped on the bed, causing Zell to bounce off it at least a foot and come down with an `ooph'. He smirked.

“Your plan's still not working, whether I'm impatient or not. I'm gonna do my own thing.”

Seifer pouted, or acted like he was pouting. “You're not including me?”

“No! You get to call the shots in Garden. I'm gonna do my thing out of Balamb, so I call the shots, and you aren't helping.”

“Mean Chicken-wuss.”

“Don't be a cry-baby.”

“You're the cry-baby!”

“Shut up. We'll keep doing your thing here, and I'll run my plan for a while and see how it goes, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Good Seifer.”