Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Lightning. ❯ Chapter, The Tenth: In Which Zell Explains. ( Chapter 11 )

Kitty: My driving instructor said he was really pleased with my lesson today! Yay! Of course, he didn't know about the missiles on the BOB, but... anyway! Happy Valentine's Day everyone! -grins-

Eoko: Like they even know what the BOB is! It’s my airship in the RP. It’s the color of a clear blue sky and it’s super cool. It also doesn’t HAVE missiles, so I am completely at a loss as to how Kitty started the launch sequence of them…. And yes, Happy V-Day. This chapter isn’t a happy, sappy, touchy, piece dedicated to the day of love and happiness… but I’m sure you’re all happy just seeing it update.
- - -

Chapter, The Tenth: In Which Zell Explains.

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

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

“What the fuck do you mean by that?!” Seifer was already screaming. He had been irritated and down right pissed for a good portion of the day, and this news, quite frankly, did not have a calming effect on him.

“Seifer, please, don’t yell. We have to stop what we’re doing to Irvine.”

“When the fuck did you get a conscience, Dincht?” Seifer spat at him.

Zell glared at the taller man. “Do you even know what it’s doing to him?”

“Do I care?” he crossed his arms over his chest.

“He’s nearly failing his classes. He’s afraid to leave his room. Seifer, he’s nearly in tears just at the sight of us.”

Seifer shrugged. “So, he’s a pussy. You never did that poorly.”

“I only had to put up with you. I didn’t have a little mini-you to contend with as well.”

Seifer grinned a little at that, and his own mental image of Zell with his hair slicked back and in much smaller Almasy attire.

“It’s not funny, you shit. We’re destroying his life.”

“And how do you know so much?” He cocked a brow. Zell was speaking pretty seriously, so he must have had something to back it up.

Zell hesitated. His lie about not seeing Irvine today had been for the cowboy, not for Seifer, but he was fairly certain, given the blonde’s mood, that he’d be upset about it too. “He told me.”

“He told you? He can’t even stand the sight of you, but he’ll explain exactly what you make him feel? And when did this impossibility take place?”

The shorter blonde looked off at the floor to his left and mumbled a soft “today.”

Seifer took a couple steps closer to him, using his old intimidation act that really didn’t have the same effect on Zell that it used to. “I thought you said you hadn’t seen him today?” he nearly hissed.

It still caused a slight shiver through him. “I did say that, but that was for Irvine, not you. He doesn’t know it’s me.”

Jade eyes looked hard at Zell’s turned face. He could respond to one of two things right now. He could chose to follow his curiosity, and question how Irvine didn’t know it was Zell, or he could follow the growing anger, and uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. In fact, he didn’t even need a choice.

“You blew me off for Irvine, AGAIN?!”

Zell cringed at the sheer volume but refrained from covering his ears. “I didn’t blow you off…”

“You damn well did! I’ve been looking for you all fucking day!”

“Well how was I suppose to know that!?” Zell shot back, turning to fully face Seifer. “I went to Ma’s last night, after-”

“After you decided to start playing hero.”

Zell closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. “After that. I was there until I saw Irvine, and now I’m back. And as soon as I was back, I found you terrifying him again.”

“What the hell, Dincht? You never had a problem with it before.”

“I never knew what it was doing to him. I always thought he felt like I had. But he hates us. He really hates us.” The emotion could easily be heard in Zell’s voice, and that feeling in Seifer’s stomach was growing along with it.

He looked away from Zell. “Didn’t you hate me then? When I did it to you?”

“Seif…” He bit his lip as he thought about it for a second. “I think I probably did.” Seifer looked hurt at that, but he covered it up quickly. “But not that much. I told people I hated you. I told you I hated you. But I think those were just words. I never really meant them. You’re my best friend, Seifer. How could you be that if I hated you?”

“So, you’re blowing off your best friend ((I fucking wish he were *giggles*)) for some flirty, doesn’t even realize the truth, cowboy.” Seifer walked away from Zell and dropped heavily onto the bed. For once Zell wasn’t getting it first.

“Seifer…” Zell followed him, kneeling on the floor and folding his hands over the scarred blonde’s lap. “Why are you being like this? Why do you care so much that I’m not always with you?”

“Because you have been since I came back… We’ve been practically joined at the hip. Most people don’t even bother looking for just one of us anymore. It’s always ‘Have you seen Seifer and Zell?’, ‘Do you know where Seifer and Zell went?’”

“Hey,” Zell said softly, punching the other blonde in the side with the same force as his voice. “Why does your name get to be first all the time?”

“Dunno,” Seifer said, smiling faintly. “Maybe they subconsciously go by height.” His smile grew into a little smirk. “Come on, get off the floor.” Seifer gave a little pull.

Zell got to his feet and sat next to Seifer, wrapping and arm around his waist.

Seifer’s arm came up around Zell’s shoulders and he dropped his head on top of the tattooed blonde’s. “Zell?”

“Mhmm?”

“I don’t think I’d mind so much, if you told me you were off doing something. I wasted my whole day looking for you, when I could have done something productive, like harass some cadets.”

Zell leaned away from Seifer only to fall back against him, his most lazy form of “punching” someone.

“Besides, then I won’t feel like you’re ditching me.”

“You’re such a baby.”

- - -

“Are you alright?” Anasha asked as she and Selphie led Irvine back to the table they had been sitting at.

Irvine’s arms were still wrapped around himself tightly. He was berating himself for begging whoever would listen to send a man he barely even knew to his rescue, still having no clue that he had in fact rescued him.

“Are you alright??” Anasha tried again when Irvine didn’t answer her.

“He hasn’t used his gunblade in a while…” Irvine whispered quietly.

Selphie’s hands rubbed slow circles on his back, thinking to herself about what had happened. After all the episodes that involved the two blondes and Irvine, she couldn’t recall one where either of the two had so flatly told the other to back off.

She came out of La La Land in time to see a worried looking Rikan heading there way, and glared dangerously enough to make him decided now would be a good time to leave. Selphie knew damn well that Irvine wouldn’t want to deal with his almost-stalker right now.

“Why doesn’t anyone stop them??” Anasha asked no one in particular.

Selphie chose to answer. “They think someone else is gonna. Every thinks it should be stopped but they don’t do anything cause ‘someone else will’, except everyone is thinking the same thing, so no one does it.”

“That’s so stupid, though!”

“We didn’t do anything either, Anasha,” Selphie pointed out, causing the redheaded girl to look down.

When the three of them got back to their table, they got Irvine some food and a drink of cold water to calm him down. It didn’t take him too long to recover, but it was still worrisome.

- - -

“So, how does he not know he’s meeting you?” Seifer asked, tilting his head to the side to look at Zell.

“Who?” the other blonde asked, turning his head the other way.

At some point after their little make up talk the two had laid down to rest and chat. Being angry and screaming at people was actually pretty tiring.

“Irvine, you stupid chicken.”

“Oh, He- hey!” Zell half rolled over and hit him.

“Took you long enough. Now tell me, and maybe I’ll really think about leaving Irvine alone.”

Zell pouted, making his little baby-face look down right adorable. “You already promised.”

“I was lying, now tell me.”

Zell huffed. “He thinks I’m someone else.”

“He may be in the closet, but he’s not blind. How can he miss that hair and tattoo? Not to mention your eyes and those mini-fangs of yours.” Seifer pressed the pad of his thumb against one of them since Zell’s mouth was half open as if he kept wanting to talk but wasn’t being given the chance.

“Get your fingers outta my mouth!” Zell pushed Seifer’s hand away. “And I’ll show you.” He rolled onto his stomach and swung a leg over Seifer, then the other and hopped off his bed. He walked over to his door and lifted his helmet off the hook, putting it on. He turned to Seifer and closed the visor.

Seifer cocked a brow. “You wear your helmet the whole time? Okay, idiot, that explains why he doesn’t see it’s you. But what about your voice?”

“I don’t talk to him,” Zell said like Seifer’s question was stupid.

The other brow raised to join the first. “Must be productive.”

Zell’s hands lifted to remove the helmet and put it back on its peg before coming back over to the bed and crawling back over Seifer. “It’s surprising how much you can say without words. The first two times I just gave him rides back to Balamb. Today I had a notepad and I wrote while he talked.”

“You know, other than the walking around in your helmet the whole time that sounds like a decent plan. So, got anything out of him yet?”

“Verbally, not really, other than all the reasons why you are going to lay off him.” Seifer rolled his eyes. “But during that he was pretty touchy.”

“Oh really? How?”

“Like this,” Zell said, shifting closer to Seifer and curling his fingers in the blonde’s shirt, pressing his face against his shoulder.

Seifer looked down at him. “What is with you and showing people everything rather than just saying it?”

Zell lifted his face to look back up at Seifer. “It’s easier to show. Then you know just what happened, except we were sitting and his hand was in my lap.”

“You didn’t put your hand in my lap.”

“Well that would be a rather awkward position don’t you think?” Seifer thought he meant because they were friends, but when Zell finished his thought, he realized exactly who he was talking to. “I mean really. I’d be lying on it and then I’d have to bend it all funny and cock my wrist to the side to even get it in your lap vicinity.”

Seifer shook his head. “You’re such an idiot, Zell.”

“Oh, and Seifer? It might be a better idea to ease off the teasing. More like we’re getting bored with him instead of just stopping. Like, keep up those looks and the names for a bit. Just ease off, ya know?”

“Yea, I know.” He’d make a comment about Zell sounding like Raijin, but after hearing that way of speaking for years, he’d gotten so use to it he didn’t even notice. “So, are you going to keep me entertained if Irvine’s off limits?”

“Depends. What do you have in mind?”