AN: Uh...dammit, gotta find a muse to do these author note thingies... o.O
Disclaimers: *sighs* Squall and Seifer aren't mine...
Book One of the Sorcerer Arc ~ History Repeating ~ Chapter Thirteen ~ Bonded
It was no good. Just as Seifer's mental fingers began to finally slip, losing their grip on his last coherent thought, his mind cried out in anticipation of the loss...
SQUALL!!!
***
SQUALL!!!
The brunette reacted to the mental cry faster than he had thought possible, even for him. Instinctively he knew what to do, knew that there had to be intimate physical contact between them, more so that he could find his way back to his own mind than for any other reason... Instinctively he feared that this might be his last chance to kiss the blond, and Squall's lips locked against Seifer's, eyes closed as he plunged into the older SeeD's psyche...
***
His grip on sanity finally slipped, fingers sliding from the last coherent thought that he had been able to hold onto, and he was falling...endlessly falling...images and thoughts blurring into one another as he passed, moving faster and faster, thoughts and images becoming twisted and tangled, variations of the truth, variations that had been used to manipulate him in the past.
No. The thought was fierce, determined, coherent...not his Seifer dimly realised. The images and thoughts, the sensation of falling had stopped, but it was still hard, so hard, to think clearly. Stopped. Why had he stopped? In his mind the memory of Hyperion falling towards a helpless brunette looped over and over. Hyperion. His gunblade. Now how did he know that, and yet not the name of the brunette? His thoughts were slow, painful, nearly impossible to control, drifting from the main point... Main point? Oh yeah, not falling... Why?
Feeling absurd, he waggled his feet, encountering no resistance. No floor. Not falling. No floor. Dimly Seifer thought that the two together should mean something...but what? No floor, not falling...hands... A grip on his wrist... Slowly he dragged his eyes from the looping memory, trying to peer at his arm. Not that arm...other arm... Gradually his head tilted backwards. Another hand. Not his. The blond's eyes followed the hand upwards. An arm, a concerned face... The brunette from his memory...
Come on Seifer, help me out here The brunette was speaking. But what was he saying? What was he saying? Pressure on his arm – was the brunette trying to pull him up? Why? It was easier to just let go, fall forever in a meaningless jumble of images and words that didn't make sense, but didn't have to. No responsibility, no expectations, just a numbing blankness. The brunette was speaking again, the words somehow seeming slightly clearer – had he been pulled further up the endless well of nothing?
Dammit Seifer! Help me! Seifer was surprised when he found his feet searching for purchase amongst the incomprehensible thoughts and memories, found himself instinctively obeying the brunette's commands. His thoughts were still fuzzy, but the incoherency was fading rapidly as he ascended.
Seifer? He'd stopped again Seifer noted absently, and his thoughts were clearing. There was a pressure on his wrist - a hand? He frowned and turned, halting in confusion as he recognised Squall's alien presence.
Squall? The brunette looked relieved. Seifer tried to recall what had happened, why Squall would be in his head...as Ultemecia had been... The thought triggered a flashback, reminding the blond what, exactly, was going on. He looked around gloomily, seeing the even worse mess the second attack had made of his psyche. He'd never recovered fully from Ultemecia's destruction of his mind, or from the intense mental agony that her death had caused. Picking up the pieces again Leonhart? Why bother?
Just pull yourself together Almasy. The younger SeeD growled. Seifer scowled at him in response, thoughts still jumbled enough that he didn't immediately notice that his question had been evaded. Still off-balance enough that his thoughts were not following logical lines of reasoning – or any lines of reasoning.
When are you gonna let go? He indicated the hand on his wrist with a flick of his own free hand. Squall's eyebrow quirked upwards. Oh yeah, dumbass, Seifer chided himself, when he ain't gonna be chasing your ass down the road to insanity again... With a careless shrug the blond turned his attention away from Squall and to his own broken and shattered psyche. It was simple enough to construct his shell once more. Healing the rest of his mind...well, that would take its own sweet time... Gonna let go now Leonhart? Squall hesitated, an action that had Seifer tensing suspiciously before the brunette could say a word. What the fuck have you done?
Only what I had to, I couldn't lose you again... Almost in slow motion, Squall removed his hand from the blond's arm, revealing a glowing cord linking the two. Seifer froze as his emotions whirled like snowflakes in a blizzard. Ultemecia had done this to him as well, the only difference was, Ultemecia had deliberately broken his mind to make him vulnerable, Squall had stepped in and saved him from insanity the only way he knew how, by giving him an anchor that only death could destroy. Besides, wasn't this what he wanted? To be Squall's knight as Ansiko had said he should? That wasn't the point, Seifer snapped at himself. The point was...well, to be honest, the point was moot, but...ah hell, there really wasn't a point at all considering the circumstances.
So... Seifer started, but Squall was already fading, retreating back to his own mind, the only evidence of his presence, his actions - the glowing cord.
Grumbling mentally to himself, Seifer followed Squall's lead and headed back to consciousness...only to find the aforementioned brunette pulling away from what had definitely been a less-than-chaste kiss. Blinking in surprise and no small amount of shock, Seifer appraised the situation. He was on the floor of Squall's office, and the brunette was stretched across him in a way that was far more than just suggestive. Not to mention the delicious blush that was now spreading lightly over the younger man's pale cheeks. Figuring that a) Squall wasn't that likely to complain, and b) if he did then Seifer could blame his, still, scattered thoughts, the blond hooked a hand around the back of his sorcerer's neck, drawing him firmly down for another deep kiss.
***
Squall had been certain that any chance he'd had with the blond had been lost the instant he bonded him as his knight, without Seifer's explicit consent. Therefore, when said blond pulled him down for another lip-bruising kiss, he let out a rather undignified squeak of surprise. Fortunately it was muffled as their lips met.
"Seifer...not...here..." Squall managed between gasps, Seifer's free hand having managed to work its way up the brunette's shirt to his nipples.
"Why not?" The blond asked, seemingly serious, but with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Because..." Squall broke off his sentence with a moan as Seifer shifted slightly, causing their erections to brush lightly together. "Because it's my office!" He managed to gasp out. "Anyone can and...~does~...walk in..."
"Oh alright..." Despite being the one who had protested continuing, Squall couldn't prevent a moan of disappointment when Seifer actually pulled away and looked at him, one eyebrow raised in amusement. "Well?" Squall suddenly realised that it was now him who was preventing Seifer from rising. With a second blush, Squall rolled away and stood...just as Zell walked in ~without~ knocking.
The tattooed blond halted as he took in the scene. Seifer sprawled on the floor, with Squall standing, flushed, just a bit away from him. He began to snigger.
"Was there something you wanted Zell?" The snigger halted abruptly at Squall's icy tone.
"Yeah, uh, the SeeD Exam. Squad B..." He trailed off.
"There was no sign of Squad B. They have the standard 72 hour window in which to return to or contact any of the Gardens, after which they will be considered casualties of the mission." It was the standard SeeD procedure, but no less brutal for being delivered in Squall's icy monotone. Zell actually winced, looking as if he might snap at the brunette to show some humanity, but he thought twice about it, and instead whirled away silently. The young blond paused at the door though, half-turning to look back into the room.
"I guess some things don't change." The door slammed on his words. Seifer raised an eyebrow.
"Still as much of a people person as ever I see. How long do you think it'll take him to realise that you didn't even let him ask for the explanation you promised, never mind avoided giving him one?" Squall switched his chill glare to the blond still sprawled on the floor.
"Are you planning to stay there all day?" Seifer shrugged.
"Depends what you're offering as an alternative..." The almost-purr in his voice, as well as the look he directed at the brunette, were clear indications of what he thought Squall should be offering. His expression changed as he felt Squall's mood shifting through the bond. "Fine. Where are we going?" He asked, somewhat sullenly, as he stood and brushed himself off. Squall's lips twitched in what was almost a smirk.
"~You're~ going to get a lock for this door, and then you're going to sort your mind out." He glared as the blond rolled his eyes. "~I'm~ going to speak to a few people, call in a few favours, and see if I can figure out where Kylari's based herself." Seifer groaned. It was going to be a long day...
AN: Mwahahahahaa! Well, got around to changing it...~entirely~ I don't think there's a single piece from the original chapter in this version...
Anyhoo, yes, I'm still breaking the fic at this point, although I'm not completely sure if two years has still passed from this point to the start of the next 'book'... Ah well, one down, one to re-write and, um 4(?) to write :)
RxR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REVIEWS FROM VERSION 1:
Reviewer: Leap of Fate
Date: 31/10/2002
For Chapter: 13
Review: Aww what a cute ending, i really enjoyed this story, i look forward to reading more. Thanks for the mentions in the chap, i'd love it if you reviewed the new chap of my FF8 story when i finally update, i'll be looking for your new stories tee hee. Keep it up.
xXx
Author's Response: Hope the new end is satisfactory – not quite as sweet I'm afraid, but I felt that not enough time had passed for the two to be so immediately close. There may (may I say, MAY) be sweet/sappy/fluffy moments elsewhere in the story...on the other hand, the gore muse may chase the fluff muse away (she doesn't like blood in her fur)
Reviewer: Redrum
Date: 29/01/2003
For Chapter: 13
Review: Damn, why didn't I review this before :) Awesome fic, can't wait to read the sequal ^^
Author's Response: Well, hope the re-write stayed to the same high standard (personally, after looking back at the old version, I think the old version really, really sucked...) or higher ;) As for the sequal, well, it's in the process of being re-written, but as to when it'll be finished... That's for the muses to say – and they're not *rolls eyes*
Reviewer: mary
Date: 01/06/2003
For Chapter: 13
Review: ultima weapons 9 attack is light pillar. Luv ur fic btw.
Author's Response: ty ;) I'm sure I ~did~ have a reason to connect the attack with the fic, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was ^^;; Glad you liked the fic, hope the re-write is as much to your liking