Seifer sighed and glared at the ground as
he took up his normal sitting position, ankle resting on opposite knee, arms
spread out. And he looked around Quistis Trepe’s bedroom.
It was a simple
place, really. Nothing particularly frilly like Rinoa’s room, not
particularly cluttered like Selphie’s. There was a light blue throw rug
on the tile floor, and her desk faced her one window that had a sheer lace
curtain pulled over it. On the walls were pictures of her friends-he’d
noticed that he was in a few- and beautiful watercolor paintings by some artist
Seifer didn’t know. Her bed dominated the middle of the room, done up
with plain white sheets and a light green knit blanket. On the other
wall, next to her closed closet, was a cedar dresser, on which lay a
silver-handled brush, a large compact filled with make-up, a bottle of
perfume-he recognized the scent right away as hers-, and a fountain pen.
Vaguely, Seifer wondered what significance the pen held. Quistis Trepe
was one of those sentimental types, he was certain.
He hadn’t yet
explored the desk yet and the sight of its three closed drawers called to
him. Quistis was still asleep on her bed. And Seifer Almasy was a
curious man, so he rose to his feet and headed for the desk. He started with
the lowest one, opened it, rifled through it. Extra paper, pens, ink
cartridges, all unopened. Then he moved to the second one.
Paperwork and file folders, each with names on them. His wasn’t among
them so he shut the drawer. Nothing of interest. “Jeez, Trepe, I
didn’t know you were so boring,” he murmured mockingly to her sleeping
form. First drawer. His green eyes narrowed. The hell?
Quistis had a recorder, a metronome, unmarked staff paper, books of
music. Everyone knew she played piano, but this was vocal music he was
looking at. Slowly he reached his hand in the drawer, moving aside the
metronome, the recorder. His hand slid the sheet music slowly away from
the top of the first book, allowing him to make out letters. His green
eyes squinted in the low light and he leaned closer. “The Cr-“
OOMPH!
One minute he was
snooping through Quistis’ desk, the next he was on the ground, wind knocked out
of him, staring at the ceiling. It took a moment, but when he realized
what had happened, and why he felt abnormal pressure on his abdomen, he scowled
and lowered his gaze.
Dark blue.
Lit from the back by silver. That’s what he was looking at.
Beautiful, dark depths filled with emotion-anger, betrayal…fear? They
reminded Seifer of the
“Seifer, what do
you think you are doing?!” Quistis demanded, those blue eyes flashing.
Mentally he shook
his head. When the hell had he started being romantic about Quistis
Trepe’s eyes; he wasn’t a fucking Trepie. His eyes met hers, focused this
time, and his scowl grew bigger. “I’m looking through your stuff, what’s
it look like, Trepe? Did years of not being in class fry your
brain? Or maybe the bump on your head did more permanent damage than
Kadowaki thought!”
Her eyes narrowed
and she dug an elbow into his abdomen. He gritted his teeth and glared
more. “Why the hell are you in my room?”
“So ungrateful,
Trepe! You collapsed in the hallway and I found you brought you
here. Stupidly contacted Kadowaki who told me to stay here until you woke
up to make sure you were okay. Reinforced by orders from Commander
Leonhart. Of course whether you are okay or not is entirely up for
debate!” Seifer tried to shift his body but found it quite uncomfortable
for his hormone-driven body, so he moved again. This of course only
caused Quistis to fall against him in a different way and he stifled a groan.
“I collapsed in
the hallway?” she asked, not moving from her position of pinning him down.
Dead weight was quite an asset sometimes. If she let him up, he wouldn’t
answer her questions. And maybe she kind of liked the feel of his
muscular body-
“Yeah,” Seifer
sneered, interrupting her unwanted thoughts. “Probably because you’re too
damn stupid not to stay put and heal.” He shifted again and her body
turned onto its side, her head beneath his chin and her arms flung out limply
across him.
Quistis
snorted. “Look who’s talking.” She had a point. Dammit.
There was a long pause. Then she asked,” Why’d you save me?”
“I told you,
Trepe, I was under strict orders-“
“No,” she cut
in. “When I fell in the water. Why’d you save me? You’ve
never liked me.”
“I couldn’t let
you die,” Seifer frowned at
her. “I’m not that
malicious.” Her eyes met his and he relented. “Well, not
anymore.”
Another pause,
before,” How’d you get there so fast?”
Seifer chewed on
his tongue, and then decided on the truth. “I was in the quad, on the
bench by the stage when you came in.”
Quistis jerked
up, her hand using his lower abdomen as a lever and Seifer’s eyes bugged.
She didn’t notice. “You heard everything?”
“Basically,” he
wheezed. She stared at him oddly. “I was going to applaud what you
did to that Eric Edgar guy-he’s such a sleaze-but then you fell in.” Her
gaze stayed on his. “I’d applaud you now if I could move my arms,” he
hinted.
Quistis ignored
the hint, instead turned to rest her elbows on his shoulders, her body
stretched against his, seemingly not noticing the very suggestive position they
were in. “What did he tell everyone?”
“I don’t
know! It doesn’t matter, I was there. I saw and heard it all.
Who do you think they’re all going to trust, me or him?” Seifer demanded.
Her blue eyes blinked, then moved from his to the floor by his head and he
understood what she was thinking. She would have taken Eric’s word over
his. Dammit, why did that hurt so much? It was only Quistis
Trepe. “Look, Trepe, I have things to do! You’re awake, can I go
now?”
Slowly she nodded
and just as slowly, carefully, she got up, using the desk as a support.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Seifer that she blocked access to her desk drawers
and he thought about asking her what she was trying to hide. After all,
it was just vocal music. Of course, his was well-hidden in his room,
too. So he let it go. Everyone had secrets.
“If you’re
through being weak, Rinoa and Squall said to meet them for dinner with wedding
plans on the brain,” Seifer called over his shoulder as he headed toward the
door. But her voice stopped him.
“Seifer.”
Raising an
eyebrow, he paused with the door half open, turned his head to look at her.
Her cobalt eyes
met his squarely, but something was playing through their depths. It
looked like ripples on ocean water. Seifer, it’s just eyes, he told
himself. “Thank you,” Quistis murmured. Not for the dinner
reminder.
Since when did
Quistis Trepe start thanking him? If anything, she always tried to bring
him down, make him feel worthless. The sensation he felt rising in his
gut made him bark,” Yeah, well, next time don’t be so careless.” And he
left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Quistis stood
there a moment, before shrugging and heading for the shower. That was
Seifer.
*
*
*
It didn’t take
long for Seifer to hunt his prey down.
Eric cried out as
his back hit the wall with incredible force. His feet dangled about a
foot above the floor and he stared down into angry green eyes, his own blue
ones wide.
“If you ever
touch her again, you slime, not only will I hunt you down, but so will everyone
else who knows her. Don’t think that just because you’re popular with
cadets that you fool ANY,” Seifer punctuated the word with another slam against
the wall,” of the people that count in this institution!” And he let go
of Eric’s collar and watched him fall clumsily to the floor.
Eric was
immediately on his feet-one couldn’t show any sign of weakness to Seifer Almasy
without dire consequences-and he spat,” Did the ice bitch sleep with you too,
lapdog?” Before he could blink, Seifer had spun around, holding Hyperion to his
throat.
“First of all,
don’t call her that. Second of all, no, she didn’t have to for me to see
that you’re a sorry specimen of manhood and deserve to have your vital organs
splattered all over this wall. And last of all,” Seifer hissed.
“That’s EX-lapdog.” The quickness that he resheathed Hyperion served only
as a warning to the scared SeeD, who had a thin red line across his neck
now. “Now get lost!” Deciding it would be the best course of action
to follow orders, Eric high-tailed it out of the classroom.
Seifer stretched
his arms above his head and began to laugh. Slept with the ice bitch,
huh? Not likely.
Yet even as he
headed for the training center, the feel of her body on his was still imprinted
in his mind.
*
*
*
The phone was
shrieking when Seifer returned to his dorm and as he picked up, he wondered how
long it had been ringing. “Almasy,” he said. The voice on the other
end made him grimace.
“Seifer, it’s
me.”
He ran a hand
through his golden hair and slumped on the bed. “Clasyl.”
“Can you come get
me? I don’t like it here without you.”
“Clasyl, you and
I are not together anymore. You accepted it when we broke up, why are you
so clingy now?” he sighed, exasperated.
Her tremulous
voice annoyed him. “I’m carrying your baby now.”
“I already told
you I’d give you child support.”
“I want more,
Seifer!”
“I’m not giving
you more. Accept it,” he growled. Stupid women, always trying to
manipulate men into doing their bidding. If he didn’t know Clasyl, he
would think that she was lying to him. Then his eyes narrowed.
They’d broken up over nine months ago…not eight. Unless she was wrong
about the count, then he couldn’t be the father. What game was she
playing?
“Seifer?
Are you listening to me?!”
Oops. He
tuned her out. “Yeah, I heard you. And my answer is still the
same.”
Her voice turned
cold. “Seifer Almasy, I will ruin you if you don’t come get me.”
“How,
Clasyl? I screwed myself up awhile ago, I don’t need your help for that,”
he retorted bitterly. “Why’d you come back to me instead of chasing after
Eric?” Then his eyes narrowed into slits. “Eric who?”
“W-what?
Because it’s your baby!”
“Clasyl…Eric who?”
There was a long
pause, before he heard the reply. But he heard it. “That’s what I
thought,” Seifer’s voice was low, dangerously low. “Clasyl…I’m taking a
paternity test once you have the baby.”
The woman’s voice
grew panicked. “NO! I’m telling you, it’s YOUR baby! Why
would I lie?”
Good point.
Seifer cursed inwardly, and decided to lie through his teeth. “You’re
going to have to stay there, Clasyl. I think I was just assigned a
mission.” Before she could protest, he said good-bye and hung up the
phone. And placed his head in his hands.
She was dangling
him around like some kind of puppet. He wouldn’t suspect anything if
she’d been more forthcoming, but Clasyl had never been a good liar. Maybe
she isn’t lying, Almasy, maybe she’s telling the truth. In that case, she
has nothing to worry about. But if she thinks I’m going to marry her for
a mistake I made, she’s extremely misguided. I’m NOT her puppet. Or
any woman’s puppet. And I never will be.
Speaking of
women…
Seifer jumped to
his feet, disconnected his phone, grabbed his guitar, and headed for the music
room. To the one person that understood him.
The
marionetter has your number
Pulling
your arms and legs till you can’t stand on your own
Dragging
your conscience on the stage
And
your heart gets rearranged
And
you cannot tell your mentor from your maker
Look
at the crows bleeding with laughter
Over
the way you entertain at beck and call
They
don’t see behind the lights, or the painted backgrounds
They
just want to see you fall
But
you don’t really mind
Cause
you’re just wasting your time
You
can’t feel anything
You’re
a boy on a string
I
feel a sadness like Gapetto
Watching
the life that he created run away
Seeing
the puppeteer’s intrusion
And
holding the remains of puppets that had rotted away
One
day the curtain will not open
And
all the crowds will go away
Someday
those string will choke you, but until that day
You
don’t really mind
Cause
you’re just wasting your time
You
can’t feel anything
You’re
a boy on a string
Only later did he
listen to her song and realized the truth in the lyrics. He swore he
wouldn’t love again, because he’d betrayed the world. Hell, no one wanted
him, so he wasn’t going to let anyone take control of his heart. But that
was changing.
Because he was
positive he was in love with her.
**************************
A/N: “Boy On A String” by Jars of
Clay. Seeing as how they’re playing here at Virginia Tech soon, I’m
paying tribute :P Aww, not so many shout-outs this time *lip
trembles* But that’s okay, I love you all anyway and appreciate EVERYONE
who reads it, even if they don’t review(although I’d appreciate them a LOT more
if they did ^_-).
Tilena-aawww! It’s in .html format.
None of the other formats work on my computer for some reason. Perhaps
you could cut&paste it into your word processor as a .txt format? Of
course that could be too much work! ^_^ I appreciate you wanting to read
it!
Setobsessed-*dreamy sigh* Seifer is my
dream hero! Lucky Quisty! Yeah, Eric’s such a jerk :P
Stella Anon-YAY! *dances around* I
hope I’m changing your mind! Sometimes songs just make things so much
more vivid, like in the movies!
Sabacat-that’s cause Seifer IS great! ^_^
Presentsgirl-oh yeah! I think I’d
have a heart attack if I ever found someone like him…and then I’d jump him
multiple times! *ROWR*
Chapter 7 in progress, but it’ll come much
faster if you all...
REVIEW! The button is right down there!
Thanks and much love!
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