Remembrance
Author: Liz Camp
Warnings: Who loves you?! Yaoi does!
Disclaimer: I recently purchased a 1/6th scale vinyl statue of Seifer...but not the Final Fantasy franchise. This makes me both happy and sad.
Author's Notes: Whole bunch of words... not much action. There's a point...really.
----Previous Chapter:
I calm down as I clean myself up the best I can, getting a spare change of clothes from my suitcase, and getting back into bed.
It's a long time before I can get back to sleep.
Chapter 10----
"Wake up Squally-boy, we gotta get going."
"..." Wha? Who...oh, Seifer.
"Come on Commander, up and at em...bright new day, early bird gets the worm and other clichés..."
I tense at the word 'Commander' and close my eyes...hearing that brought back images from my disturbing dream. I've never had one like that, so vivid...realistic.
I feel the bed shift, realizing Seifer had sat down next to me. I crack one eye, grimacing at the sadistically cheerful grin on his face.
"Now Squall, I know you need your beauty rest, but I did tell you we were getting up early. Do I have to drag you out from under there?"
"NO!" Seifer blinks at my answer...Hyne, if he did that he'd notice how I was dressed, and I really don't want Seifer noticing my morning wood, "Hyne, I'm awake already..."
Seifer laughs dryly, "Oh yeah, I can tell." I struggle with the covers, managing to sit up with considerable effort. I am not a morning person.
"See, I'm halfway up now, now get out so I can get dressed." Seifer's eyes glint with mischief.
"You sure you don't want me to watch?" I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"No. Out. Now." Seifer nods, faking disappointment as he stand and leaves. I let out the breath I was holding when the door clicks shut, thank Hyne he didn't notice. After wadding my old clothes up and cramming them into the bottom of my suitcase, I grab a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, throwing them on quickly. My stomach grumbles at me as I head out the door, reminding my brain that I never did finish eating last night. Although, Rajin was cooking, so it might have been for the best.
"So, we ready to go?" Seifer is sitting on the downstairs sofa, facing the staircase. I nod to him. Seifer hops up from the sofa quickly, clapping his hands together.
"Great, let's get something to eat before shopping, you're uh... kinda scrawny there Leonhart. No offense." Am I? I suppose I have lost weight in the past few years...I just never have time to eat.
"...Whatever." Seifer looks at me, amused.
"You know, yesterday, I thought we had you up to full sentences, must have been a passing thing."
"..." He's mocking me again...it's sad how much I missed that. We step out onto the porch and the full spectrum of the day hits. It's beautiful out, I can see why he likes it here, the sun is shining through the leaves, the birds are singing. There's something about their song...a longing, both beautiful and sad, that makes it a perfect accompaniment to the orange-red sunrise.
Seifer throws an arm around me, startling me from my reverie. "Well, what are you waiting for? Car's in the back." He guides me around the back of the house, and I try to ignore his arm, hot against my skin.
----
"This--is your car?" Seifer breaks into a sunny smile I've never seen before.
"Yep, knew this would get at least a sentence out of you, she's a beauty, isn't she?" She, being Seifer's mint condition Fjord pickup truck. It was a classic, sixty years old if a day, painted jet black and detailed with Seifer's fire cross symbol in blood red on both sides.
"...you do this?" I finger the paint, tracing the cross outline. Seifer nods.
"Hell, yeah. I fixed, restored, painted and customized her," he smiled a secret little smile, "she's the only woman for me...my baby."
"Nice, I didn't know you knew cars."
"Well, I didn't at first, but I learned, and now I'm doing small repairs on cars around town. Pays to learn these things." I nod, distracted by the car. It's just so...Seifer. Speaking of, he's unlocking the passenger and driver's doors, "You going to get in, or stare at it?"
"In there?"
"No...on the roof. You think I'd make you walk along behind or something? I'm cruel, but not heartless. But I swear...one scuff, one scratch and I'll toss you in the middle of the woods without your weapon." I pinch my cheek between my teeth, forcing the smile away from my lips.
"Understood." Seifer nods, hopping into the cab, and I follow. The drive is a pleasant one.
------
"Hey Seifer! How you been?" I look up at the tenth, or eleventh person greets Seifer as we leave the diner. Breakfast was awkward, neither of us really knowing what to say...and bringing up what happened between us in public is probably a bad idea. It's unusual, Seifer not having something to say, at least, it used to be.
"Hi Frank, been good, you?" The man who greeted Seifer grinned.
"Oh, I'm good... not much going on. Sally and the kids are keeping me busy, but who is this?" Frank turned towards me, and I really don't like the look in his eyes as he appraises me. "Another stray? This one's kinda cute." His eyes finish roaming my body and settle on my face. I glare at him and he loses some of the attitude. Seifer snickers at this.
"I wouldn't be calling him cute, if I were you...mercenaries don't like that." The man's eyes widen at the mention of mercenaries and I have to force myself not to smirk.
"M-mercenary?" Seifer once again puts his arm around my shoulder, this time for show. "Yeah, but don't worry, he's on vacation, the only killing that's gonna happen is if anyone pisses him off too much, right?" He turns to me, giving me a covert wink. Ah, what the hell, I'll play along. I step towards the man, Seifer's hand falling from my shoulder, and extend a hand to him; Frank flinches away from my greeting, but takes my hand despite his hesitation.
"Right. Nice to meet you Frank. Don't call me cute, and we'll get along fine." I give him one of my cold smiles, the one I reserve for drying up conversations at required social functions. Frank breaks out into a cold sweat almost immediately, but he grins despite it. Well...a grimace is similar to a grin.
"I-I wasn't aware mercenaries had vacation time." I squeeze his hand once, firmly, then let go.
"SeeD do." I can feel Seifer's amusement from three feet away as Frank slowly goes white.
"SeeD, huh? Oh, well...look at the time! I gotta go!" He turns, walking at a near run, and comes close to tripping over the sidewalk. As soon as the man is out of earshot, Seifer grins.
"That was great, Squall...did you see the look of his face?" Seifer chuckles at the mental picture. "I've been trying to warn that guy off for months!" I stare at him pointedly, waiting for an explanation.
"That's Frank, the local lech. He's got a nice family, but he can't seem to keep his eyes...and hands...off any young good looking person, male or female."
"Including you." I frown slightly as Seifer nods assent.
"Well, yeah. He's harmless, buy annoying, and it's not like I can whip out Hyperion and start hacking away at the locals when they annoy me. Five years living just outside of town, and I'm still the new boy. Still, I doubt he'll bother us for awhile." Seifer smirks to himself...looking pleased.
"Doesn't he know who you-"
"Naw, I don't think so. Seifer's a pretty common name; well, common enough. Didn't recognize you now, did they?"
"No." That's true enough, but very few civilians really know what I look like. They just know Squall Leonhart, The Lion of Balamb, by name. In fact, none us 'heros' in the Sorceress War were ever really put into the spotlight. By the time the public realized how much danger they were in, we'd already won and disappeared. I think there may have been two or three actual pictures of our gang, and those were all group photos with the other Balamb SeeDs.
Now Seifer had plenty of pictures taken of him, but no one had really known how large a role he had played, other than the governments and gardens that were involved. It was for the best...Seifer would gain no more attention or ill will than any other soldier on the losing side of the war.
"We were lucky, you know. There was so little media coverage until after...everything happened." Seifer unknowingly parrots my exact thoughts. I nod to him.
Seifer watches me, an inscrutable expression on his face. He seems to shake it off after a minute or so, and grins cheekily. "Well, we should get going. The groceries won't buy themselves!" Seifer and I walk off, intent on our goal.
-----
I hate shopping, officially. Well, I know I hated shopping with Rinoa, but I'd just assumed it was the whole 'guys hate shopping with their girlfriends' thing. It wasn't.
After an indeterminately long amount of time, twenty or so more friendly chats with the locals...Seifer seems to know practically everybody...and wandering the store aisles four or five times over, we're finally done and back home. It's been a whole day since arriving here, and already I'm calling Seifer's house home. Strange...
But it feels comfortable here. Safe. I can't ever remember feeling safe- no. That's a lie. I've felt safe twice in my life; once, at Matron's, before Ellone left, and once, in the beautiful underground city of the Shumi Tribe.
And this makes three places I've felt safe. But unlike the others, I could stay here.
'Yes, stay.' I think to myself as I smile at Seifer, 'Staying doesn't sound like such a bad idea at all...at least, for a little while longer.'
A/n... yes, it's been a long, long time since I've updated... but I promise not to let it go that long again. I now have a website... at http:// www.geocities.com / missythang @ sbcglobal.net. It's spaced out because of inconvenient automatic coding. Stupid things reads as an e-mail address. I have Remembrance and Nowhere Man on the site, as well as other WIPS and ficlets from different fandoms. I'm new to web design...so tell me what you think if you visit.
Till next time.
Author: Liz Camp
Warnings: Who loves you?! Yaoi does!
Disclaimer: I recently purchased a 1/6th scale vinyl statue of Seifer...but not the Final Fantasy franchise. This makes me both happy and sad.
Author's Notes: Whole bunch of words... not much action. There's a point...really.
----Previous Chapter:
I calm down as I clean myself up the best I can, getting a spare change of clothes from my suitcase, and getting back into bed.
It's a long time before I can get back to sleep.
Chapter 10----
"Wake up Squally-boy, we gotta get going."
"..." Wha? Who...oh, Seifer.
"Come on Commander, up and at em...bright new day, early bird gets the worm and other clichés..."
I tense at the word 'Commander' and close my eyes...hearing that brought back images from my disturbing dream. I've never had one like that, so vivid...realistic.
I feel the bed shift, realizing Seifer had sat down next to me. I crack one eye, grimacing at the sadistically cheerful grin on his face.
"Now Squall, I know you need your beauty rest, but I did tell you we were getting up early. Do I have to drag you out from under there?"
"NO!" Seifer blinks at my answer...Hyne, if he did that he'd notice how I was dressed, and I really don't want Seifer noticing my morning wood, "Hyne, I'm awake already..."
Seifer laughs dryly, "Oh yeah, I can tell." I struggle with the covers, managing to sit up with considerable effort. I am not a morning person.
"See, I'm halfway up now, now get out so I can get dressed." Seifer's eyes glint with mischief.
"You sure you don't want me to watch?" I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"No. Out. Now." Seifer nods, faking disappointment as he stand and leaves. I let out the breath I was holding when the door clicks shut, thank Hyne he didn't notice. After wadding my old clothes up and cramming them into the bottom of my suitcase, I grab a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, throwing them on quickly. My stomach grumbles at me as I head out the door, reminding my brain that I never did finish eating last night. Although, Rajin was cooking, so it might have been for the best.
"So, we ready to go?" Seifer is sitting on the downstairs sofa, facing the staircase. I nod to him. Seifer hops up from the sofa quickly, clapping his hands together.
"Great, let's get something to eat before shopping, you're uh... kinda scrawny there Leonhart. No offense." Am I? I suppose I have lost weight in the past few years...I just never have time to eat.
"...Whatever." Seifer looks at me, amused.
"You know, yesterday, I thought we had you up to full sentences, must have been a passing thing."
"..." He's mocking me again...it's sad how much I missed that. We step out onto the porch and the full spectrum of the day hits. It's beautiful out, I can see why he likes it here, the sun is shining through the leaves, the birds are singing. There's something about their song...a longing, both beautiful and sad, that makes it a perfect accompaniment to the orange-red sunrise.
Seifer throws an arm around me, startling me from my reverie. "Well, what are you waiting for? Car's in the back." He guides me around the back of the house, and I try to ignore his arm, hot against my skin.
----
"This--is your car?" Seifer breaks into a sunny smile I've never seen before.
"Yep, knew this would get at least a sentence out of you, she's a beauty, isn't she?" She, being Seifer's mint condition Fjord pickup truck. It was a classic, sixty years old if a day, painted jet black and detailed with Seifer's fire cross symbol in blood red on both sides.
"...you do this?" I finger the paint, tracing the cross outline. Seifer nods.
"Hell, yeah. I fixed, restored, painted and customized her," he smiled a secret little smile, "she's the only woman for me...my baby."
"Nice, I didn't know you knew cars."
"Well, I didn't at first, but I learned, and now I'm doing small repairs on cars around town. Pays to learn these things." I nod, distracted by the car. It's just so...Seifer. Speaking of, he's unlocking the passenger and driver's doors, "You going to get in, or stare at it?"
"In there?"
"No...on the roof. You think I'd make you walk along behind or something? I'm cruel, but not heartless. But I swear...one scuff, one scratch and I'll toss you in the middle of the woods without your weapon." I pinch my cheek between my teeth, forcing the smile away from my lips.
"Understood." Seifer nods, hopping into the cab, and I follow. The drive is a pleasant one.
------
"Hey Seifer! How you been?" I look up at the tenth, or eleventh person greets Seifer as we leave the diner. Breakfast was awkward, neither of us really knowing what to say...and bringing up what happened between us in public is probably a bad idea. It's unusual, Seifer not having something to say, at least, it used to be.
"Hi Frank, been good, you?" The man who greeted Seifer grinned.
"Oh, I'm good... not much going on. Sally and the kids are keeping me busy, but who is this?" Frank turned towards me, and I really don't like the look in his eyes as he appraises me. "Another stray? This one's kinda cute." His eyes finish roaming my body and settle on my face. I glare at him and he loses some of the attitude. Seifer snickers at this.
"I wouldn't be calling him cute, if I were you...mercenaries don't like that." The man's eyes widen at the mention of mercenaries and I have to force myself not to smirk.
"M-mercenary?" Seifer once again puts his arm around my shoulder, this time for show. "Yeah, but don't worry, he's on vacation, the only killing that's gonna happen is if anyone pisses him off too much, right?" He turns to me, giving me a covert wink. Ah, what the hell, I'll play along. I step towards the man, Seifer's hand falling from my shoulder, and extend a hand to him; Frank flinches away from my greeting, but takes my hand despite his hesitation.
"Right. Nice to meet you Frank. Don't call me cute, and we'll get along fine." I give him one of my cold smiles, the one I reserve for drying up conversations at required social functions. Frank breaks out into a cold sweat almost immediately, but he grins despite it. Well...a grimace is similar to a grin.
"I-I wasn't aware mercenaries had vacation time." I squeeze his hand once, firmly, then let go.
"SeeD do." I can feel Seifer's amusement from three feet away as Frank slowly goes white.
"SeeD, huh? Oh, well...look at the time! I gotta go!" He turns, walking at a near run, and comes close to tripping over the sidewalk. As soon as the man is out of earshot, Seifer grins.
"That was great, Squall...did you see the look of his face?" Seifer chuckles at the mental picture. "I've been trying to warn that guy off for months!" I stare at him pointedly, waiting for an explanation.
"That's Frank, the local lech. He's got a nice family, but he can't seem to keep his eyes...and hands...off any young good looking person, male or female."
"Including you." I frown slightly as Seifer nods assent.
"Well, yeah. He's harmless, buy annoying, and it's not like I can whip out Hyperion and start hacking away at the locals when they annoy me. Five years living just outside of town, and I'm still the new boy. Still, I doubt he'll bother us for awhile." Seifer smirks to himself...looking pleased.
"Doesn't he know who you-"
"Naw, I don't think so. Seifer's a pretty common name; well, common enough. Didn't recognize you now, did they?"
"No." That's true enough, but very few civilians really know what I look like. They just know Squall Leonhart, The Lion of Balamb, by name. In fact, none us 'heros' in the Sorceress War were ever really put into the spotlight. By the time the public realized how much danger they were in, we'd already won and disappeared. I think there may have been two or three actual pictures of our gang, and those were all group photos with the other Balamb SeeDs.
Now Seifer had plenty of pictures taken of him, but no one had really known how large a role he had played, other than the governments and gardens that were involved. It was for the best...Seifer would gain no more attention or ill will than any other soldier on the losing side of the war.
"We were lucky, you know. There was so little media coverage until after...everything happened." Seifer unknowingly parrots my exact thoughts. I nod to him.
Seifer watches me, an inscrutable expression on his face. He seems to shake it off after a minute or so, and grins cheekily. "Well, we should get going. The groceries won't buy themselves!" Seifer and I walk off, intent on our goal.
-----
I hate shopping, officially. Well, I know I hated shopping with Rinoa, but I'd just assumed it was the whole 'guys hate shopping with their girlfriends' thing. It wasn't.
After an indeterminately long amount of time, twenty or so more friendly chats with the locals...Seifer seems to know practically everybody...and wandering the store aisles four or five times over, we're finally done and back home. It's been a whole day since arriving here, and already I'm calling Seifer's house home. Strange...
But it feels comfortable here. Safe. I can't ever remember feeling safe- no. That's a lie. I've felt safe twice in my life; once, at Matron's, before Ellone left, and once, in the beautiful underground city of the Shumi Tribe.
And this makes three places I've felt safe. But unlike the others, I could stay here.
'Yes, stay.' I think to myself as I smile at Seifer, 'Staying doesn't sound like such a bad idea at all...at least, for a little while longer.'
A/n... yes, it's been a long, long time since I've updated... but I promise not to let it go that long again. I now have a website... at http:// www.geocities.com / missythang @ sbcglobal.net. It's spaced out because of inconvenient automatic coding. Stupid things reads as an e-mail address. I have Remembrance and Nowhere Man on the site, as well as other WIPS and ficlets from different fandoms. I'm new to web design...so tell me what you think if you visit.
Till next time.