Seifer stared
after the blond, his handsome face blank until she was out of sight. Then his shoulders sagged and his eyes filled
with…something. That kiss was…
Incredible, his subconscious chimed
in. And no matter how many times Seifer tried to get it to shut up, it wouldn’t. It was right, after all. How could Eric have called her frigid? That kiss had more heat in it than Ifrit in hell on a bad day.
He’d felt the fire throughout his entire body, as if it were leaping
from her to him via their joined lips.
His head swam and he was sure his eyes crossed, and he’d damn near
exploded and swept her off her feet to…where?
The ground, most likely, he admitted to himself. Luckily, she’d broken the kiss or it would
have continued into much more.
Would it have?
She was Quistis Trepe. And she
didn’t feel anything, she’d basically said so when she said she needed a real
man. That stung. If there was one thing Seifer
was, he was a real man. How many women
had told him so? Granted, he had no idea
where any of those women were at the present time, but that many females
couldn’t be wrong! His pride wouldn’t
let them be. Yet Quistis
disagreed. Would that kiss have gone
further if she hadn’t pulled away right when she did?
Doubtful. Even Seifer thought
that Quistis deserved to tumble with someone far
better than an ex-lapdog, though her taste-Eric came to mind-seemed to be
lacking. She probably held Eric in
higher regard than him. That rankled,
since Eric was a slimy bastard and odds were that he was actually the father of
Clasyl’s baby; Seifer would
take the fall for that too. Just as he
took the fall for everything he’d ever done and everything he hadn’t done.
Voices behind him brought him back from
his distant thoughts, and he let a blank expression appear on his face, before
he turned to face those approaching. Two
cadets, both relatively non-descript, stopped and stared at him, the animated
chatter coming to a halt. Only for a
second, before they started whispering and giggling. Seifer smirked
lazily, and the giggling stopped as well, as the girls stared at him again,
with stars in their eyes. His ego so
boosted, he saluted and turned on his heel, leaving the
* * *
Familiar heavy footsteps alerted Clasyl to the approach of the man whose room she was
in. She’d finished prowling,
fortunately, but found nothing of interest that could be used to win him back
to her. No journals, no pieces of scrap
paper, no notes, nothing that even MENTIONED any girl’s name, much less Quistis Trepe’s. Quickly, she straightened the room, before
sitting sexily-as sexily as pregnant woman can sit anyway-on his bed.
The door slid open and with a mutter, Seifer entered, shrugging out of his coat and stripping off
his vest. The blond man reached for his
towel and was headed for the hamper before he came to an abrupt halt. Slowly, he turned his head to look over his
left shoulder, green eyes narrow. Once
again, Clasyl was struck silent by his rugged good
looks: the piercing green eyes that burned through her, the straight firm nose
that just avoided being hawkish, and the full lips that looked deceptively thin
whenever he wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t
smiling now, and Clasyl blinked her brown eyes,
before offering a seductive smile. Seifer ignored it and his voice was dangerously soft.
“Clasyl, what
are you doing in here?”
Oh shit.
Clasyl groped around for a legitimate-sounding
excuse, but drew a long blank. What came
out of her mouth was,” Uh, I…”
There was no change in expression on Seifer’s face. “Why
are you in my room?” The slight emphasis
on the words “you” and “my” did not go unnoticed by the redhead and she flushed
angrily.
“Because I want to be!” she blurted out,
then clamped her mouth shut and scooted further back on his bed to rest her
back against the wall.
Seifer didn’t
need to ask how she’d gotten in. He’d
dated her for four months, he knew how manipulative and cunning she could be,
and how she got in did not matter to him in the least. What mattered was she was in his room now, on
his bed, in his way, pissing him off.
“Get off my bed.”
Clasyl rose
hesitantly, before linking her hands together under her belly and murmuring,”
Well, I was hoping-“
“Get out of my room.”
Whatever words she was going to say then
were lost as she suddenly found herself standing outside his room. The door slid shut and locked behind her,
before she realized what happened. Her
cheeks flushed red with rising fury, and she howled, gave the door a swift
kick, then turned and stalked away.
* * *
When Seifer
exited his room later, clean and smelling like aftershave, it was late. How long had he spent under the shower head
trying to figure out what had taken place between himself and Quistis Trepe? Too long. And yet he wasn’t sure-that’s right, Seifer Almasy wasn’t sure-that he
wanted to see her at the present time.
What could he do, where could he go?
The music room was the most obvious choice, but it was still before
Lex looked up
from scanning books when he entered and immediately pounced on him, her big
brown eyes wide. “Seifer! Can
you do me a huge favor?!” He eyed her
warily. “Can you reshelf these
books? I can’t reach the top
shelves!” She shoved the cart in his
direction, then looked around the crowded facility and
sighed, though her eyes continued to sparkle.
“Khairi called in sick, so it’s just me and
it’s so busy, with exams coming up!”
Before he could stop himself, Seifer found himself volunteering
not only for reshelving books, but to take Khairi’s place. He
blamed it on him being a sucker for big eyes, especially when they were
blinking innocently as hers had. Of
course, he realized that she knew exactly what she was doing, but seeing as it
was Lex, he didn’t mind. Yet part of him knew that helping was a
convenient way to stay away from Quistis for a longer
period of time. Or so he thought.
She walked in just as Seifer
crouched behind the counter to place a reserved book. When he stood up, he was presented with a
quarter angle of her, but it was enough to note that she was the epitome of regal
queen but for the greasy bag in her left hand.
“Lex, I brought you some hot dogs, seeing as
you haven’t had a break today!” She
laughed and held the bag up when Lex poked her brown
head around the shelf corner.
“Thanks Quisty! Just set them on the counter, I’ll eat them
when I can!”
“Eat them now, I’ll cover for you. You need a break!” So saying, Quistis
tossed the bag at the brunette who caught it gratefully.
“Back in half an hour,” she promised,
dashing out the door.
“Take your time, I have nothing to do,” Quistis called after her, then
shook her head, smiling. As she headed
toward the abandoned shelf where Lex had been pulling
reserved books, Seifer chose to make his presence
known.
“Quite the philanthropist, aren’t you, Trepe?”
The blond’s head
jerked around to face him, but the only change in expression was her blue eyes
icing over. “What are you doing here?”
she asked coolly. “Only members of the
library committee are allowed behind the counter. And I didn’t think this was your kind of
place. Nothing to
slaughter.”
“I’m filling in for Khairi,”
he responded, somewhat defensively.
“Now who’s the philanthropist?” Quistis raised an
eyebrow, even as she picked up Lex’s clipboard. She leafed through it and absently asked,”
Why you?”
Seifer took the
book handed to him by a waiting cadet and scanned it, replying,” Her boyfriend
is too short to reach the top shelf.”
Quistis felt her
lips twitched, but forced herself not to give in to the urge to smile. You’re still mad at him, Trepe! Remember earlier? He called you frigid! He agreed with Eric!
But that wasn’t enough to stop the easy
banter they fell into as they went about their duties. Not that discussion strayed from lightly
insulting each other and comments on book titles they spotted. In fact, almost by mutual consent, neither of
them touched the event of the afternoon and any comment that could easily have
led in that direction was ignored. When Lex returned, well-fed and high on her belated dosage of Zell, Quistis and Seifer were writing down the reservation slips and putting
them with the correct books. The library
had cleared out for dinner and only one or two people remained, getting in some
last minute notes before the books had to be returned.
The brunette came around the counter and
beamed at the both of them. “Thank you
so much for filling in for me!”
Seifer grunted
and Quistis smiled,” It was no problem, Lex. Do you need me
any longer?”
Lex shook her
head and linked her hands behind her back.
“Nope!
It’s cleared out, and Maya should be in soon to take my place. Seifer, you can go
too! I appreciate the help!”
He smirked lazily, an expression that
affected both women’s heart rates though neither would admit it, before
stepping around and exiting the room. Quistis and Lex exchanged knowing
smiles, before Quistis too bid farewell.
She hummed to herself as she strode down
the hall. Despite what had transpired
earlier, she and Seifer, who never before got along,
were able to carry on a decent conversation.
And she’d enjoyed it! Of all
people, she mused, Seifer Almasy. Granted, she still hadn’t forgiven him for
his comment or even demanding the kiss, but Quistis Trepe could be civil and still hold a grudge. But Quistis, she
told herself, you were more than civil.
You were friendly! Knowing Seifer, he would take it completely wrong and assume he was
forgiven, that he could do as he pleased, even more of…The woman blushed to the
roots of her hair as she thought of that searing kiss. Even if it was Seifer,
a girl could get used to being kissed like that, as if the entire body was set
aflame. Then the blush faded and her
eyes grew cold. Yet he didn’t feel the
same. He said she was frigid. She scoffed.
Someone who was frigid wouldn’t have felt what she did when their lips
met. Not that she could tell him that of
course. But at least she knew she wasn’t
frigid…At least, not with Seifer.
“Ridiculous!” Quistis shook her
head to clear it.
“What is?”
Her head jerked up in surprise.
He’d waited for her. Watched her think all the
way down the hall. He couldn’t
read what she thought, she was far too careful with her mask. What had she been thinking about that made
her so unaware of his presence? He
wasn’t hiding; he was standing right in plain sight at the end of the
hall. Would she answer? “What is?” Seifer
repeated.
“Nothing,” she answered calmly.
“So you said it just to say it? I never thought you’d be one to talk to yourself.”
“I wasn’t talking to myself,” she
snapped. How come he so easily got under
her skin? “I was thinking about your
behavior earlier!” Her eyes widened as
she said it-she couldn’t believe she brought it up-but she couldn’t stop
there. “It was absolutely ridiculous!”
Seifer
smirked. “What part?”
Quistis stopped
and placed her hands on her hips. “All parts! The duel,
the stakes, what you asked of me, and your comments afterwards!”
“You’re the one who demanded the battle, Trepe, don’t get so bitter just because you didn’t like the
results.”
“Oh, grow up! You act just like a little boy!”
“Was that a little boy you kissed this
afternoon then?”
That brought her up short. She stared at him out of wide blue eyes, disbelief
etched across every part of her face.
Then she regained her bearings, and took a step away from him, folding
her arms haughtily. “You said I was
frigid, Mr. Almasy.
I’m only frigid with little boys whom I don’t need. You most definitely are not what I need.”
Seifer scowled
down at her. “You don’t know me, Trepe, so how can you know if you need me or not?”
There was a long pause, before,” Why are
you asking me this, Seifer?” Her eyes fixed on his, trying to read him, to
figure him out, as she’d tried so long ago before the Sorceress War. She hadn’t been able to understand him then,
and she still couldn’t. The thought
bothered her as she had no answer as to who he really was.
“I’m a man. Not a little boy.” No answer.
Seifer leaned down to within an inch of her
face and murmured,” What’d you feel earlier, Trepe?”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered
back. “Why are you asking me this?”
He stood back up and stared at her a
moment, before smirking. “I lied.” His green eyes bore into her blue ones,
hypnotizing her.
“Wha-?”
“You weren’t frigid. You set my body on fire. Can you say the same about me?” His voice was low and dangerous, almost
musical and completely mesmerizing and she found herself answering truthfully
with no thought at all.
“…Yes.”
It wasn’t her voice at all that answered, but a breathy substitute that
she’d never heard from her lips before.
Waveringly she took a deep breath and blinked at him, her voice
returning to normal. Perhaps
a little stronger and more assertive than normal. “All I could feel were flames.”
What have you gotten yourself into, Almasy? He honestly
didn’t know. When he asked, he expected
denials, accusations, cold looks from the ice queen, anything that would come
between their suddenly easy companionship.
Yet she hadn’t. She did the exact
opposite and now Seifer had no idea what he was going
to do. The urge to kiss her again and
find out just how much fire they would feel was getting stronger and stronger
and he began to lean in, down towards her, his green eyes fixed on her
silver-blue ones. Closer, closer…
“Hey Quisty,
Seifer!
Is Lex about done?!” Zell came bounding
up and Quistis jerked back, guiltily, refusing to
look at Seifer, who leaned back slowly and pasted his
smirk on. Zell
looked from one to the other suspiciously.
“Why were you two so close?”
Quistis opened
her mouth, but nothing came out, and Seifer jumped
in,” I thought she had something gross on her face. I was wrong, it was just her.” He smirked meanly at the glare Quistis shot at him, saluted mockingly, and sauntered away,
all arrogance.
Zell watched him
go, then shook his head and looked at Quistis
expectantly.
“I’m sorry, Zell. What?”
Quistis tore her ice cold eyes from Seifer’s retreating back in time to hear Zell ask something.
He sighed in exasperation.
“Never mind, I’ll go find out myself,” he
rolled his eyes and jogged toward the library, leaving Quistis
standing very alone in the hallway.
* * *
Seifer hated not
knowing himself.
Despite what she said his affect on her
had been, he was sure she still thought of him as a little boy, immature and
beneath her. He grinned wickedly. He wouldn’t mind being beneath her at some
point. Of course, he’d always thought
that. All a male had to do was look at Quistis Trepe and every fantasy
imaginable would enter his mind. A cold
shower did nicely for times like that, and Seifer had
his fair share of cold showers. But the
cold shower after the training center incident did nothing to cool his body
off. Maybe because he had a taste of
what it could be like with her.
He scowled. And that Eric bastard knew what it was
like. What the hell was wrong with
him?
Seifer pushed
thoughts of the slime ball from his mind and focused on his guitar. Get the thoughts of Trepe
out of your head, Almasy. You’ve found someone who fits your dream…at
least, you think you have. That voice is
enough to make you happy.
The song that came out of his mouth wasn’t
meant for her though.
I am a question to the world
Not an answer to be heard
Or a moment
That’s held in your arms
And what do you think you’d ever say?
I’m not listening anyway
You don’t know me
And I’ll never be what you want me to be
And what do you think you’d understand?
I’m a boy, no, I’m a man
You can’t take me
And throw me away
And how can you learn what’s never shown?
Yeah, you stand here on your own
They don’t know me
Cause I’m not here
And I want a moment to be real
Want to touch things I don’t feel
Want to hold on and feel I belong
And how can the world want me to change?
They’re the ones that stay the same
They don’t know me
Cause I’m not here
And you see the things they never see
All you wanted-I could be
Now you know me
And I’m not afraid
And I want to tell you who I am
Can you help me be a man?
They can’t break me
As long as I know who I am
And I want a moment to be real
Want to touch things I don’t feel
Want to hold on and feel I belong
And how can the world want me to change?
They’re the ones that stay the same
They can’t see me
But I’m still here
They can’t tell me who to be
Cause I’m not what they see
Yeah, the world is still sleepin’
while I keep on dreamin’ for me
And their words are just whispers and lies that I’ll
never believe
And I want a moment to be real
Want to touch things I don’t feel
Want to hold on and feel I belong
And how can they say I’ll never change?
They’re the ones that stay the same
I’m the one now
Cause I’m still here
I’m the one
Cause I’m still here
I’m still here
I’m still here
I’m still here
* * *
Eric shoved his hands in his pockets and
scowled at the ground, as he walked through Balamb
town toward the junk shop. Nothing had
gone right for him since he dumped Trepe. The bitch he’d been screwing found a new
boyfriend, Trepe wasn’t interested, and that Almasy lapdog was horning in on his action. He was willing to bet that if Almasy hadn’t shown up, Quistis
would have been right back in his arms. Well, not immediately. Women always needed time to cool down, but
inside three days she would have come crawling back to him, especially if he’d
presented some flowers and inserted an “I love you” at an opportune time.
He lifted his black head and squinted his blue eyes at a figure on the bench outside of
the junk shop, before he smirked nastily.
“Well, well, look who it is.”
The woman’s head shot up and brown eyes
met blue. Clasyl
glared at him, tossing her red hair out of the way. “I’m a little busy right now, Eric.”
He ignored her, instead settling into a
casual pose in front of her, hands in his pockets. “You’re not looking like your normal skinny
self, Class. Do you even know who the
father is?”
She stood up and folded her arms across
her chest. “Well, Eric, since I’m eight
months along, it’s either you or Seifer Almasy.” She smiled
sweetly at his growl. “But don’t worry, I’m sure it’s Seifer’s. If it was yours, I would have taken care of
it already. I don’t want demon spawn
growing inside me.”
Eric raised his hand, then
lowered it, realizing he was in uniform.
“You’re lucky, Clasyl,” he ground out, but
then he shrugged. “Not like Almasy cares about you, Class. He’s screwing Quistis
Trepe now.”
Clasyl’s brown eyes
widened, before she laughed. “So you
want that tramp, too, huh? Looks like
we’re both shit out of luck, doesn’t it, since they’ve got each other.” She sat back down on the bench, and he sat
down next to her. “I wish there was a
way to break them up. It should be easy
since they both have trust issues now, but I can’t think of anything.”
There was a long silence.
Then almost simultaneously, they looked at
each other, light filling their eyes.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Eric
asked.
Clasyl smiled
smugly. “I bet I am. Let’s talk.”
***********************
A/N: “I’m Still Here” by John Reznik.
My deepest
apologies for the delay, everyone. I went through a bad break-up with my
significant other, which was kind of the inspiration for this story, so the
urge to write just disappeared. Then I
had exams and vacation, when my computer went into a boot loop and I lost
everything, so I apologize again. This
chapter is a little longer than usual and I realize the two of them might be
acting a little OOC, but I think I would be too, if someone I hated just
affected me like that. I hope you all
won’t think too badly of me! I plan to
get back in the writing groove, but if it takes a long time to get the next
chapter out, I’m sorry in advance. A
note to the couple of people who e-mailed me rather nastily: I am a double major in college with a life
outside of writing. There’s no need to
be nasty simply because I haven’t updated.
Writing is a break from life for me, and I only write when I feel it’s
cleansing. Thank you! ^_^ Shout-outs:
Lexiter Jackson-Aw, thank you so much for the recommendation!
Seyenaidni-A clash of two extremely different personalities
perhaps? ^_^
Ianesa-OMG, thank you so much! Very high praise coming from you!
Glacial Phoenix Mystiara-Well, I’ve tried, so I hope this pleases you!
Emerald-queen-I hope you like
this chapter!
Sabacat-perhaps you’ll find out what they’re up to soon ^_- And do you have
great timing!
Cara-does his perspective make you happy? ^_^
Slice of Zucchini-eeep, I’m sorry. I made you wait even longer! Forgive me?!
Lovexfool-indeed he did and indeed she is!
Megs-I haven’t read that, but
perhaps I will now!
Quistis88-thanks so much!
Please keep reading!
K-chan-yeah,
someone should get them together already ^_^
Dragon Princess Isis-more
delivered!
Littlekmt-I hope you haven’t gone crazy yet!
AkariYuushou-Quisty is my favorite character too!
Setobsessed-yay! I hope it’s still there, despite my lapse in updates
-_-
Lunareid-Thank you, I’m so happy about it! The wedding WILL be a part of the fic, in either the last chapter or second to last chapter!
Stella Anon-Hate to think
what you’re going to say about this :P I’ll look at the last chapter and try and do
as you suggest!
WaterFF-you caught yourself before you fell, right? ^_^
Cyrell-Thank you so much! *feels ego inflate*
Dee-whY-Cee-aRe-ooh,
I made another list! *feels loved* And I think you have pretty much their
characters down ^_-
Aloura-thank you!
Hotaru9-thank you!
Sarah-Hyne
is the “god” in Final Fantasy VIII. Oooh, I do hope that you’ve read some more, especially by
those in my favorites, I pale in comparison!
Ookami-sorry! Here’s
the next one!
Melodramatic-Ack, I’m sorry!
Please forgive me!
Once again, I’m really
sorry! Please keep on
REVIEWING!
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