Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Lightning. ❯ Chapter, The Ninth: In Which Irvine is Held. Twice. ( Chapter 9 )

Kitty: I'm going to Melbourne this weekend! Yay! Yay, because we're going to see Brokeback Mountain! Boo, because no Zell/Irvy RP goodness for three whole days! –cries- Also, that has been in short supply lately anyways, because of my days at uni, but! We shall persevere! Also, for the last couple of hours, Irvine has had to deal with RP Zell's emotional breakdown... I heart the angst! -glomps Eoko-

Eoko: She says she hearts the angst but we were both in tears over it. Stupid angst. He was due for a breakdown though. Haven’t had one in a while. I hope you all read the logs when they get posted and cry too. If you cry it means we wrote it well. Not that it’s hard when after two years they tend to have rather complex lives of their own. -glares at them- Anyway, if people are still to lazy to go find the webpage link it’s http:// www. geocities.com/eoko_dincht/ValEoKitty_Welcome.html with no spaces. You stupid piece of shit, FF.net.

It’s humor, it’s smut, it’s love, it’s hate. Hyne, We got bondage and outside love making, and in the sea and in a chocobo corral and… well, it really doesn’t end. –snorts- Oh! And angst. So read them! Leave comments. I’ll put “guest books” all over the place.

Chapter, The Ninth: In Which Irvine is Held. Twice.

Irvine lifted his eyes to the helmet and wished so badly the guy would just take it off. To his mortification, tears came to his eyes and he had to look away, embarrassed that the biker - Rubedo - would see him like that.

"Thanks," he said softly. "Thanks for sayin' so. I... I gotta go..."

Irvine stood, dislodging Zell's hand from his shoulder, and started to walk off. There were tears in his voice. Zell wrapped a hand around his wrist and shook his head.

"I have to," Irvine said, not looking at him. "I don't want you to... I don't want to cry in front of you."

I don't care. He wrote it, but Irvine wouldn't look.

"Please... Let go..."

Rubedo's fingers were like five iron bands around his wrist and, tug as he might, Irvine couldn't get free. A tear slid down his cheek and he grit his teeth in an effort to keep them back.

/Sit down... please./

He lifted the pad in front of Irvine and the sharpshooter's eyes automatically flicked to it. He turned a little to look at the uplifted helmet.

"But I-I'm gonna blubber like a baby. I don't want you to see that..."

The pen tapped the sentance above the request to sit. /I don't care./

Irvine stared at him, then gingerly sat again, looking away from him. He didn't force the sharpshooter's eyes back to him, but wrote some more.

/What's wrong?/

Irvine gave another bitter, mirthless laugh.

"Everythin'."

/Care to elaborate?/

Zell had to muffle a laugh. If Irvine had known it was him, he'd be amazed at the fighter even using a word like that.

"I aint a SeeD, even though I know all the stuff. I'm broke. Everyone thinks I'm gay. I have a cadet chasin' my tail. I can't concentrate on my studies, so I'll never be a SeeD. My GF thinks I'm gay. I... I had to s-sell Lightnin'..."

/Lightning?/

"My chocobo."

Irvine has - had - a chocobo...? Guess I shouldn't be surprised. He's a cowboy, afterall. But... I always thought that was just an image...

/Oh. Why'd you have to sell him?/

"Couldn't afford to feed him anymore..."

/How long until you can be a SeeD?/

"Huh? Oh... next Field Exam's in a couple months... but my marks aren't good enough... Not yet anyway... I got an A on my last test, but my average is still Ds..."

Zell frowned. He hadn't known Irvine's marks were so bad.

/But you said you know all the stuff./

"I can't concentrate..." Irvine said softly, the tears in his voice again.

/Why?/

He was silent for so long, Zell thought he wasn't going to answer.

"Th... There's some guys..."

/The cadet?/

"N-no... Not Rikan... You might know them... Most people know them, but then again, you didn't know me..."

/I do now. Irvine./

He smiled a little, but it was fleeting, and Zell's heart ached at the utter misery on the sharpshooter's features.

"Yeah... Anyway... their names... Zell Dincht 'n' Seifer Almasy. Know them?"

/The names are familiar./

Zell almost laughed.

"Well... they used to fight a lot... Seifer always picked on Zell before the Neo-Sorceress War... But after Seifer came back, they were friends... They are friends."

At the moment... Zell thought uneasily, but he hadn't seen Seifer since their spat the night before. He hoped Seifer wasn't too pissed.

"I don't know why they decided to pick on me, but..." Irvine trailed off and shrugged.

/They pick on you?/

"Yeah... I can't g-go anywhere without one of them, or both, findin' me and makin' my life a misery... Th-they call me names 'n'... tease me about not bein' a SeeD, 'n', like, about bein' girly-lookin' and... and they're the ones who say the most that I'm... y'know... gay... They never leave me alone... I-I-I'm scared to even l-leave my room 'n'... the other mornin' Seifer e-even came to my room... 'n' I... I can't think about nothin' else... I-I..." He gave a sob. "I hate them! I hate them so much!"

Oh, Hyne, Irvine... Tears came to Zell's own eyes and he reached out, wrapping his arms around the sharpshooter's shoulders and pulling him against his chest. Irvine didn't protest. His hands fisted, one in Zell's lap and the other around a hand-full of the white shirt the fighter was wearing. I'm so sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

Irvine sobbed unrestrainedly, face burried in the crook of the biker's shoulder. It felt good to be held while he cried. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried with someone, and he realised he had needed it so badly. Rubedo was warm and his arms were comforting, a strength in them that made the sharpshooter feel as though no one could touch him while he was there. Safe. So safe. No Rikan. No Seifer. No Zell.

"Shh..." Zell hissed softly, knowing the sound would give away nothing of his voice. "Shh..." He stroked Irvine's back gently, and just let him cry. It was nice to hold him, but not so nice that it was because he was crying... And it's my fault.

He had never cried like this when Seifer had been picking on him, only gotten pissed off. But then again, there had only been one Seifer. He supposed it must be harder when there were two Seifers. Or... rather, a Seifer and a Zell. He had never even entertained the thought that they might be upsetting Irvine so much he couldn't concentrate on his classes. And it was their fault he'd had to sell the chocobo, too. He could have been a SeeD months ago, if his marks weren't so low.

"I hate them..." Irvine whispered when his sobs had faded and were only occurring every minute or so. "I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!" And his fisted hand came up from Zell's lap to thud against his chest. He gave a slight grunt and Irvine looked up at him, eyes wide and so vulnerable Zell had the most powerful urge to just pin him down and force him to enjoy himself with another man.

"S-sorry..." Irvine was saying. "I didn't mean to hit you..."

Zell shook his head a little, letting Irvine know it was alright as well as forcing himself to stop thinking that way. His mother would have a field day with this little incident if she knew. Thankfully, she'd only met Irvine once, and forgot about him, or she'd have mentioned him by now. No one looked ukier than Irvine.

"I'll always hate them," Irvine whispered fiercely, reluctant to lift his head from the warm shoulder.

Zell bit back a sigh. He hoped not.

He couldn't resist threading his fingers through the silk of Irvine's ponytail and running them down it's length, feeling the strands trail over his skin. It was so soft... He was so soft, so willing in his grief to just let himself have what he wanted. Zell wished it wouldn't end, but he knew it would. So he stroked the ponytail and waited for Irvine to calm down enough that he remembered he wasn't gay.

"Rubedo..." he said suddenly, and it took Zell almost too long to remember that was his name. He nodded a little.

"Can you take me back to Garden?"

Zell blinked. He was asking now?

He picked up the pad and gave it to Irvine to hold, so he could write on it without taking his other arm from around Irvine.

/Are you sure you want to go back now? What about Sipher and Zel?/

It might have looked odd, Zell reasoned, if he spelt the names right after saying he only vaguely knew them.

Irvine looked and laughed, which lifted Zell's spirits somewhat.

"It's S-ei-fer," he wrote the name. "And Zell has two l's."

/You have pretty writing./

Zell could have smacked himself. How fucking pathetic was that? What a stupid thing to think, let alone say.

"...Er... thanks... I guess..." Irvine looked oddly at him, but he still didn't seem inclined to pull away.

/You want to go now?/ Zell wrote after a long moment.

"No..." Irvine looked at the sun. "But... I've gotta have dinner before I go to bed and I don't want to be too late to bed.”

Zell nodded.

/I understand. Come on, then./

Irvine moved away and got to his feet, handing the pad back when his companion had stood up as well.

"So your bike's out the front?"

Zell nodded.

They walked together in a silence that was in no way uncomfortable, and Zell watched Irvine from the protection of the helmet. The sharpshooter had no idea how closely he was being watched. He really was gorgeous. "Pretty" didn't cut it. He had the single most kissable mouth Zell thought he'd ever seen. He seemed to have a perpetual almost-pout, lower lip just a little further out than necessary. The lines of his face were elegant, almost aristocratic and Zell wondered if maybe Irvine had been from a rich family before he had to go to the orphanage. He opened his mouth and almost asked what had happened to Irvine between the orphanage and Galbadia Garden, then snapped it shut again, about ready to smack himself for a second time in the last ten minutes.

"Ay! Rubedo! We have your bike for you, oui?"

Zell grinned inside his helmet. He could always depend on those two. He nodded his thanks.

"And who is this pretty thing?" Gaston wondered, grinning.

Pierre smacked him.

"You say he is pretty, but not I? Aaah, so harsh, oui? You see what I live with, Rubedo...?"

Gaston rolled his eyes as Pierre wheeled the bike out.

Irvine stared. They were mechanics, for fuck's sake! Mechanics were never gay! Where the hell were those pink frills?! His eyes widened still further when Gaston swept over to his equally-muscled lover, bent him back over an arm and kissed him. He stared, then averted his eyes, going pink.

Zell grinned. He was cute, too. The fighter pinched Irvine's hat and exchanged it for the helmet in the seat compartment, which he handed to Irvine before slinging a leg over the bike, kicking up the stand and starting the engine. Hyne, his bike was sexy. He grinned even more.

Irvine hurried to hop on the back of the bike, since Gaston's hand was inching up under Pierre's shirt and his arms wound instantly around Zell's waist.

"Let's go."

Zell smirked and lifted the front wheel, making Irvine yelp and cling even tighter as the engine revved beneath them and the bike bunny-hopped forward a couple of times on its rear wheel. The front wheel dropped again and Zell sped out of Balamb, tires squealing and Irvine giving a "yeehaw" in his ear.

His bike had never felt quite so sexy before.

* * *

Anyone who got in Seifer's way that day was extremely unfortunate. The further the day passed without any sign of one Zell Rubedo Dincht, the more pissed off the gunbladist got. In the end, he settled himself in the cafeteria, three feet of space all around him totally unoccupied by anyone else, because whenever anyone got within three feet of him, he glared at them until they were certain he was going to tear some part of their anatomy off and shove it down their throat.

Zell would have to come to the cafeteria some damn time. The fighter ate like food was going out of fashion.

But it was Irvine who entered the cafeteria first and Seifer showed his teeth in a feral smirk. He stood, the dark trench coat he was wearing falling about his ankles as he picked up Hyperion and stalked silently over to where Irvine stood in line. The two Junior Classmen standing behind the sharpshooter fled in utter terror when Hyperion came up beside them and Seifer smirked even more. Being notorious had its advantages.

His left hand curled over Irvine's shoulder and he brought Hyperion around to press flat against the cowboy's stomach, resting his chin on the other shoulder.

Irvine tensed up like the gunblade was at his throat and he shivered.

"Priscilla..." Seifer purred. "I was wondering... Seen Zell anywhere by any chance?"

"N-no..." Irvine said, the single syllable barely passing his lips.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes... p-please... Seifer... Let me go..."

"Are you sure you haven't seen Zell anywhere?"

"Yes! I-I've been in Balamb all day! I didn't see him! Please!"

Seifer frowned, golden brows drawing together over jade eyes. Irvine sounded too terrified to be lying. He'd been sure Zell must be with Irvine, carrying out his "plan". Especially if Irvine had been in Balamb.

"Where the fuck is he?" Seifer snarled.

This was what Zell walked in on, changed back into his usual garb and hair re-spiked. His first thought was how good the new jacket looked on Seifer. It was a deep burgundy colour, velvet, with the Almasy Cross in black emblazoned down its back. He'd gone with Seifer to Esthar the day he had ordered it, but he hadn't known Seifer had received delivery of it. Then he realized who Seifer held, saw the shine of tears on Irvine's cheeks, and anger flared inside of him. Anger and a possessiveness that stunned him.

"I'm here," he growled across the cafeteria.

Several people leapt beneath tables, others behind potted plants. The lunch ladies ducked behind their counters and anyone close enough to the door to manage it darted out.

"Oh, Hyne..." Irvine whimpered, eyes slipping shut. They're both here. If only Rubedo could turn up right now. Please, please, please, please...

"C'mon, Seifer... Let him go. You're scaring the shit out of him," Zell said softly, coming across the cafeteria. "I never saw him all day. He isn't lying to you."

Seifer glared at Zell for a long moment, then let Irvine go, arms moving reluctantly away from the slender figure. Since when do you take orders, Seifer? some malicious voice wondered inside of him. He looked at Irvine, then back to Zell.

"I need to talk to you," Zell murmured. "Please?"

It was a fight to leave Irvine, shivering and hugging himself against the wall, but Zell forced himself to do it as he and Seifer left the cafeteria together and went back to the fighter's room. He saw Selphie and Anasha both hurry over to Irvine, and knew they'd take care of him.

When the door slid shut behind them, he turned to Seifer, looking earnestly up at him.

"We can't do this to him anymore."