Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Lightning. ❯ Chapter, the Twelfth: In Which There is Singing. ( Chapter 12 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: KittyMeowMaxwell 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.02.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 383 | Status: Work In Progress
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.02.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 383 | Status: Work In Progress
Kitty: I'm going shopping tomorrow! Yay, new clothes for Kitty! What's this chapter about? I don't remember... -giggles- Uni sucks. -_- If I could write fanfiction for a living, I'd be happy. Enjoy!
Eoko: This is the chapter that Rubedo sings in Kitty. He sings that song I wrote. So I fucking own it! For once I can say that- uh, and yes, it fits him perfectly cause it was written for him. But it can also be about the imaginary perfect person in your head. I think that's what he decided, right, Kit?
Kitty: I don't even know. I just smile and nod and go "EOKO! You're writing is so cool and romantic! -melt-" Just like that. Even when we're RPing.
Eoko: More like mostly when we're role playing, but anyway.
Kitty: Well it's not my fault she's so romantic! :P
Eoko: And it's not my fault your a short midgit girl!
Kitty: This isn't about the fic... it's just annoying. Stop talking! ...I'm not a short midgit!
Eoko: ............... read the fic you crazy people!
Chapter, the Twelfth: In Which There is Singing.
It was Sunday. A nice, peaceful, little Sunday. It didn’t even know what evils its neighbour, Monday, had in store.
Irvine groaned at the very thought of it. He was doomed. Doomed, doomed, doomed. Hyne and the faeries hated him. And to mock him even more. The faeries were probably all the stereotypical fags he had be looking all over for.
He had been good. He had gone to classes, gone back to showering and eating regularly, was spending more time with Selphie and with The Cadets. And it seemed Seifer and Zell weren’t getting the opportunities to get close and make his life hell.
Irvine tugged at his hair, frustrated. It all came back of the ultimate day of doom. He wasn’t a hand-to-hand fighter. Not by a long shot. He was the long shot for crying out loud. He just knew Zell was going to make the class a living hell, and on top of that, probably fail him for fun.
There was a knock on his door, a very specific knock that sounded strangely reminiscent of Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy. Irvine grinned slightly and went to open it. The knocking codes were a brilliant idea.
The Cadets all crowded around his door, dressed in various party going and bar hopping fashions. He smiled at them and they returned it warmly. “You ready to get so drunk you forget what tomorrow brings??” Hiro grinned.
“You can’t even imagine, Hiro.”
They all laughed and headed off to Illo and Anasha’s cars.
“Oh,” Anasha piped up. “Selphie’s going to come too, but she said she’d have to catch up cause she had something to do real quick.”
Everyone seemed to be okay with that, and Irvine would be glad of her presence when Rikan got drunk and tried to feel him up, or something equally interes- disturbing, it was disturbing, not interesting.
They arrived in Balamb minutes later and piled into SeaDrye, a bar frequented by Garden students and widely known for its numerous Karaoke Nights, this being one of them. Their ears were flooded by chatting, drink orders, and singing that embodied the true spirit of karaoke- tone death.
- - -
Meanwhile, Selphie was taking care of some business she hadn’t gotten around to yet. She skipped down the dorm halls, heading for Zell’s room. Once she was there she leaned against the door and listened closely.
Sure, Seifer and Zell said they were just friends, but she didn’t know that that was true or not, and she didn’t want to interrupt anything.
When she was sure neither was making “getting bizzy” noises she knocked loudly and sporadically against the metal door.
Zell opened the door and blinked at her before beaming happily. “Hey Selph!” He leaned back into the room and called to Seifer. “Seif, Selphie’s here.”
“Erm-uh,” was the reply.
Zell waved his hand dismissively in the direction Selphie assumed Seifer to be. “He thinks he has a cold and is being the biggest baby. He just doesn’t want to be my demonstration partner for THE CLASS TOMORROW!” Zell raised his voice as he turned his head in Seifer’s direction.
Selphie slipped past him and into the room.
“Oww! My stomach!”
“You sound like Zone!” Zell turned around to find Selphie who was giggling. “How can I help you Selph?”
Her giggles stopped and she planted her hands on her hips, giving Zell a hard look.
“Uh oh.” Zell knew that abrupt changes from happy Selphie to strict or serious Selphie could be bad.
“I know it’s you Zell Rubedo Dincht.” She tilted her head to the right and gave him “the eyes”.
Zell chuckled nervously. He knew that she knew, just from that. “How’d you find out, Selph?”
“Irvy started talking about Balamb students that ride motorcycles. Then the student in question became a SeeD, who owned a Sleipner, whose name was “Rubedo”. That student is none other than you!” She emphasized her point by poking him in the chest.
“Yes, it is. Shall we sit?”
“Okay.”
The two of them went into the living room area where Seifer was watching TV and strategically groaning, or commented angrily about being ill.
“So, what are you planning, Zell?” Selphie asked, folding her hands over her knees.
“Irvine’s gay, or at the very least bi. He’s showing up on the gaydar big and bright-” Seifer snorted. “Seifer’s way- which I admit I followed diligently- wasn’t working, so I’m trying a subtler approach to help him see the wonderful reality that is man on man action.”
Selphie cocked a brow at him. “You’re plan is to out him still?”
“Yea, but in a nice way. We’re still going to keep up a few names for a bit, so it’s not like we just dropped the torment, but nothing serious, and we’re phasing out.”
Selphie bounced. “You’re going to stop?!”
“Yea, so tell me. What do you people do around here for fun, then?” Seifer asked, yawning as if bored.
“You could join the Garden Festival Committee?” Selphie suggested.
“Uh… no.”
Zell just laughed. “So,” he prompted Selphie. “Irvine’s been talking about me?”
“He’s been talking about Rubedo, if that’s what you mean.” Another snort from the peanut gallery- uh, Seifer. “You know, I don’t condone you sneaking around like this, but honestly, he seemed happier talking about Rubedo, and that outfit I saw him in was either a straight man’s nightmare, or a gay man’s desperate cry for release.” She giggled.
Seifer’s stomach tightened at the news of Irvine’s cheerful mood when talking about Zell, even if he didn’t know that’s who Rubedo really was. Maybe he really was getting something.
“Well,” Selphie clapped her hands against her thighs and got to her feet. “I’ve been invited to a Pre-Zell Class ‘Get Drunk Off Your Arse’ Partyrama at SeaDrye, so I better be off.”
“Hey, Selphie, is Anasha going to be there?” Zell asked casually over his shoulder.
“Yea, she’s who invited me.”
“Have fun, Selphie!” he waved as she headed out of the door and it closed behind her. “Seifer?”
“Hmm?”
“The Cadets and Irvine are out partying at that bar. Think “Rubedo” should make an appearance?”
“Will you take care of me all day tomorrow, until your class, since I’m sick?” he pouted, very un-Seifer-like.
“You’re not sick, but yes. I’ll wait on you hand and foot.”
“In a little frilly white apron?”
“Over my clothes?” Zell’s head tilted to the side and a hand was placed on his hip.
“Awwww,” Seifer held the sound as long as he could before he burst out laughing. Zell followed soon after.
“I’m going to change, and go. You gonna be okay by yourself for a few hours, ya big baby?” Zell chuckled and kissed Seifer’s forehead, causing the taller blonde to bat him away.
“Idiot.”
Zell changed into some shiny black leathers and a black jean vest, the style of the shoulders extending past his own, causing a broader look, and also effectively hiding the tattoo on his left shoulder.
He walked back past Seifer, earning a slap to the toosh on his way to pull on his black boots. There was an unwritten, yet crucial rule, about bikers wearing black boots. He threw on a coat and grabbed his helmet, then headed to the car park.
- - -
Zell left his coat in the seat compartment and headed toward SeaDrye. He thought about how he was going to proceed tonight. He wanted to make a big enough impact without being attacked with questions from The Cadets, and without pulling Irvine away from them.
To top it off, all he had on him was a mini-golf course pencil and a 2” by 4” notepad in one of his vest pockets. Not the ideal tools for conversation in a noisy bar, though, possibly more effective if you were sober enough to read.
Zell walked through the doors and scanned the room, helmet still in place. He spotted Irvine and his friends at a table. Luckily, the cowboy was facing the door. He lifted his hands slowly to the helmet and lifted it a little.
“Rubedo!” Irvine called out and waved a hand back and forth.
Zell put the helmet back down and cocked his head to the side. Then he lifted his hand to wave back.
Dammit… he was going to take off the helmet… if I just waited-
“Who’s Rubedo?” Rikan asked, his voice hinted jealousy, but Irvine wasn’t tuned in enough to realize this.
“A friend.” Irvine smiled and waved Rubedo over.
Zell made his way over to the table and patted Irvine’s shoulder before pointing up to the stage on which some young woman was attempting to sing Eyes on Me, and wasn’t succeeding.
“Well, I know she’s bad, but there’s, like, no reason to point.”
A shake of the head and a motion in the shoulders. He was chuckling again.
Irvine cocked his head to the side.
Zell walked past him and over to the stage, lifting the visor up enough to reveal his lips as he spoke quietly to the karaoke music manager.
Two more people sang before the name Rubedo was announced and Zell walked on stage.
Irvine stared up at him. He was going to sing? He had yet to hear anything more than a ‘shh’ and now the man was going to sing. Irvine wondered what song he picked, what his voice was like, if he’d be able to guess normal voice by his singing one.
But really, there was only one way to find out. To sit down, shut up, and listen.
Zell tapped his foot as the music began to play, counting the bars in his head until it was time to sing. His lips, still visible under the slightly raised visor, curled into a smile and he began:
‘I’m a mystery,
You’ve never seen,
I’m a secret… to you.
You close your eyes,
I’m in your mind,
But you’ve never seen… my face.’
Harada squealed excitedly. “He’s singing Mystery! I love that song!”
‘My lips are sealed,
My face is hid,
I’m a stranger… that’s all.
But I see it in your eyes,
Though I’m wrapped in this disguise,
That sweet look you give to me.
And for that look,
I love so dear,
I’ll sing this song… to you.’
“He has a very nice voice,” Illo commented, fingers tapping the table to the beat of the background music.
“Yea…” Irvine stared. He had tried so hard to think of the voice to come from the biker, but he never could have come up with this. It fit him so completely.
‘The way you feel,
The way you look,
Brings a smile to… my face.
My lips are sealed,
My face is hid,
I’m a stranger… that’s all.
But I’m falling! (falling)
I’m falling… (for you)
And you can feel it too.’
Irvine stared up at the stage, subconsciously leaning slightly towards the biker-turned-singer. It was scary how easily the lyrics fit what was going on between them, but did that mean…? Could he really…?
‘You can’t deny,
I see the truth,
You and me… mmm...
Will you run?
Will you flee?
Or will you take a chance on me?
My lips are sealed,
My face is hid,
I’m a stranger… that’s all.
But I’m falling! (falling)
I’m falling… for… you…’
Despite the visor blocking the view of his entire face, save for his lips, Irvine was certain that Rubedo was looking right at him, directly at him, into his eyes, singing to him, and all he could do was sit there, lips parted slightly in awe at the voice, at the song, and confused as to whether or not it hid more meaning than he was aware of.
Eoko: This is the chapter that Rubedo sings in Kitty. He sings that song I wrote. So I fucking own it! For once I can say that- uh, and yes, it fits him perfectly cause it was written for him. But it can also be about the imaginary perfect person in your head. I think that's what he decided, right, Kit?
Kitty: I don't even know. I just smile and nod and go "EOKO! You're writing is so cool and romantic! -melt-" Just like that. Even when we're RPing.
Eoko: More like mostly when we're role playing, but anyway.
Kitty: Well it's not my fault she's so romantic! :P
Eoko: And it's not my fault your a short midgit girl!
Kitty: This isn't about the fic... it's just annoying. Stop talking! ...I'm not a short midgit!
Eoko: ............... read the fic you crazy people!
Chapter, the Twelfth: In Which There is Singing.
It was Sunday. A nice, peaceful, little Sunday. It didn’t even know what evils its neighbour, Monday, had in store.
Irvine groaned at the very thought of it. He was doomed. Doomed, doomed, doomed. Hyne and the faeries hated him. And to mock him even more. The faeries were probably all the stereotypical fags he had be looking all over for.
He had been good. He had gone to classes, gone back to showering and eating regularly, was spending more time with Selphie and with The Cadets. And it seemed Seifer and Zell weren’t getting the opportunities to get close and make his life hell.
Irvine tugged at his hair, frustrated. It all came back of the ultimate day of doom. He wasn’t a hand-to-hand fighter. Not by a long shot. He was the long shot for crying out loud. He just knew Zell was going to make the class a living hell, and on top of that, probably fail him for fun.
There was a knock on his door, a very specific knock that sounded strangely reminiscent of Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy. Irvine grinned slightly and went to open it. The knocking codes were a brilliant idea.
The Cadets all crowded around his door, dressed in various party going and bar hopping fashions. He smiled at them and they returned it warmly. “You ready to get so drunk you forget what tomorrow brings??” Hiro grinned.
“You can’t even imagine, Hiro.”
They all laughed and headed off to Illo and Anasha’s cars.
“Oh,” Anasha piped up. “Selphie’s going to come too, but she said she’d have to catch up cause she had something to do real quick.”
Everyone seemed to be okay with that, and Irvine would be glad of her presence when Rikan got drunk and tried to feel him up, or something equally interes- disturbing, it was disturbing, not interesting.
They arrived in Balamb minutes later and piled into SeaDrye, a bar frequented by Garden students and widely known for its numerous Karaoke Nights, this being one of them. Their ears were flooded by chatting, drink orders, and singing that embodied the true spirit of karaoke- tone death.
- - -
Meanwhile, Selphie was taking care of some business she hadn’t gotten around to yet. She skipped down the dorm halls, heading for Zell’s room. Once she was there she leaned against the door and listened closely.
Sure, Seifer and Zell said they were just friends, but she didn’t know that that was true or not, and she didn’t want to interrupt anything.
When she was sure neither was making “getting bizzy” noises she knocked loudly and sporadically against the metal door.
Zell opened the door and blinked at her before beaming happily. “Hey Selph!” He leaned back into the room and called to Seifer. “Seif, Selphie’s here.”
“Erm-uh,” was the reply.
Zell waved his hand dismissively in the direction Selphie assumed Seifer to be. “He thinks he has a cold and is being the biggest baby. He just doesn’t want to be my demonstration partner for THE CLASS TOMORROW!” Zell raised his voice as he turned his head in Seifer’s direction.
Selphie slipped past him and into the room.
“Oww! My stomach!”
“You sound like Zone!” Zell turned around to find Selphie who was giggling. “How can I help you Selph?”
Her giggles stopped and she planted her hands on her hips, giving Zell a hard look.
“Uh oh.” Zell knew that abrupt changes from happy Selphie to strict or serious Selphie could be bad.
“I know it’s you Zell Rubedo Dincht.” She tilted her head to the right and gave him “the eyes”.
Zell chuckled nervously. He knew that she knew, just from that. “How’d you find out, Selph?”
“Irvy started talking about Balamb students that ride motorcycles. Then the student in question became a SeeD, who owned a Sleipner, whose name was “Rubedo”. That student is none other than you!” She emphasized her point by poking him in the chest.
“Yes, it is. Shall we sit?”
“Okay.”
The two of them went into the living room area where Seifer was watching TV and strategically groaning, or commented angrily about being ill.
“So, what are you planning, Zell?” Selphie asked, folding her hands over her knees.
“Irvine’s gay, or at the very least bi. He’s showing up on the gaydar big and bright-” Seifer snorted. “Seifer’s way- which I admit I followed diligently- wasn’t working, so I’m trying a subtler approach to help him see the wonderful reality that is man on man action.”
Selphie cocked a brow at him. “You’re plan is to out him still?”
“Yea, but in a nice way. We’re still going to keep up a few names for a bit, so it’s not like we just dropped the torment, but nothing serious, and we’re phasing out.”
Selphie bounced. “You’re going to stop?!”
“Yea, so tell me. What do you people do around here for fun, then?” Seifer asked, yawning as if bored.
“You could join the Garden Festival Committee?” Selphie suggested.
“Uh… no.”
Zell just laughed. “So,” he prompted Selphie. “Irvine’s been talking about me?”
“He’s been talking about Rubedo, if that’s what you mean.” Another snort from the peanut gallery- uh, Seifer. “You know, I don’t condone you sneaking around like this, but honestly, he seemed happier talking about Rubedo, and that outfit I saw him in was either a straight man’s nightmare, or a gay man’s desperate cry for release.” She giggled.
Seifer’s stomach tightened at the news of Irvine’s cheerful mood when talking about Zell, even if he didn’t know that’s who Rubedo really was. Maybe he really was getting something.
“Well,” Selphie clapped her hands against her thighs and got to her feet. “I’ve been invited to a Pre-Zell Class ‘Get Drunk Off Your Arse’ Partyrama at SeaDrye, so I better be off.”
“Hey, Selphie, is Anasha going to be there?” Zell asked casually over his shoulder.
“Yea, she’s who invited me.”
“Have fun, Selphie!” he waved as she headed out of the door and it closed behind her. “Seifer?”
“Hmm?”
“The Cadets and Irvine are out partying at that bar. Think “Rubedo” should make an appearance?”
“Will you take care of me all day tomorrow, until your class, since I’m sick?” he pouted, very un-Seifer-like.
“You’re not sick, but yes. I’ll wait on you hand and foot.”
“In a little frilly white apron?”
“Over my clothes?” Zell’s head tilted to the side and a hand was placed on his hip.
“Awwww,” Seifer held the sound as long as he could before he burst out laughing. Zell followed soon after.
“I’m going to change, and go. You gonna be okay by yourself for a few hours, ya big baby?” Zell chuckled and kissed Seifer’s forehead, causing the taller blonde to bat him away.
“Idiot.”
Zell changed into some shiny black leathers and a black jean vest, the style of the shoulders extending past his own, causing a broader look, and also effectively hiding the tattoo on his left shoulder.
He walked back past Seifer, earning a slap to the toosh on his way to pull on his black boots. There was an unwritten, yet crucial rule, about bikers wearing black boots. He threw on a coat and grabbed his helmet, then headed to the car park.
- - -
Zell left his coat in the seat compartment and headed toward SeaDrye. He thought about how he was going to proceed tonight. He wanted to make a big enough impact without being attacked with questions from The Cadets, and without pulling Irvine away from them.
To top it off, all he had on him was a mini-golf course pencil and a 2” by 4” notepad in one of his vest pockets. Not the ideal tools for conversation in a noisy bar, though, possibly more effective if you were sober enough to read.
Zell walked through the doors and scanned the room, helmet still in place. He spotted Irvine and his friends at a table. Luckily, the cowboy was facing the door. He lifted his hands slowly to the helmet and lifted it a little.
“Rubedo!” Irvine called out and waved a hand back and forth.
Zell put the helmet back down and cocked his head to the side. Then he lifted his hand to wave back.
Dammit… he was going to take off the helmet… if I just waited-
“Who’s Rubedo?” Rikan asked, his voice hinted jealousy, but Irvine wasn’t tuned in enough to realize this.
“A friend.” Irvine smiled and waved Rubedo over.
Zell made his way over to the table and patted Irvine’s shoulder before pointing up to the stage on which some young woman was attempting to sing Eyes on Me, and wasn’t succeeding.
“Well, I know she’s bad, but there’s, like, no reason to point.”
A shake of the head and a motion in the shoulders. He was chuckling again.
Irvine cocked his head to the side.
Zell walked past him and over to the stage, lifting the visor up enough to reveal his lips as he spoke quietly to the karaoke music manager.
Two more people sang before the name Rubedo was announced and Zell walked on stage.
Irvine stared up at him. He was going to sing? He had yet to hear anything more than a ‘shh’ and now the man was going to sing. Irvine wondered what song he picked, what his voice was like, if he’d be able to guess normal voice by his singing one.
But really, there was only one way to find out. To sit down, shut up, and listen.
Zell tapped his foot as the music began to play, counting the bars in his head until it was time to sing. His lips, still visible under the slightly raised visor, curled into a smile and he began:
‘I’m a mystery,
You’ve never seen,
I’m a secret… to you.
You close your eyes,
I’m in your mind,
But you’ve never seen… my face.’
Harada squealed excitedly. “He’s singing Mystery! I love that song!”
‘My lips are sealed,
My face is hid,
I’m a stranger… that’s all.
But I see it in your eyes,
Though I’m wrapped in this disguise,
That sweet look you give to me.
And for that look,
I love so dear,
I’ll sing this song… to you.’
“He has a very nice voice,” Illo commented, fingers tapping the table to the beat of the background music.
“Yea…” Irvine stared. He had tried so hard to think of the voice to come from the biker, but he never could have come up with this. It fit him so completely.
‘The way you feel,
The way you look,
Brings a smile to… my face.
My lips are sealed,
My face is hid,
I’m a stranger… that’s all.
But I’m falling! (falling)
I’m falling… (for you)
And you can feel it too.’
Irvine stared up at the stage, subconsciously leaning slightly towards the biker-turned-singer. It was scary how easily the lyrics fit what was going on between them, but did that mean…? Could he really…?
‘You can’t deny,
I see the truth,
You and me… mmm...
Will you run?
Will you flee?
Or will you take a chance on me?
My lips are sealed,
My face is hid,
I’m a stranger… that’s all.
But I’m falling! (falling)
I’m falling… for… you…’
Despite the visor blocking the view of his entire face, save for his lips, Irvine was certain that Rubedo was looking right at him, directly at him, into his eyes, singing to him, and all he could do was sit there, lips parted slightly in awe at the voice, at the song, and confused as to whether or not it hid more meaning than he was aware of.