~Lightning~

Chapter, The First: In Which Irvine is Furtive​

Irvine peeked warily out of the Library before daring to set foot outside of its relative safety. He inched along the wall, looking furtively around and holding a cloth bag filled with books to his chest.

They were stalking him. He was sure of it.

No one was entirely sure how it had happened, or to what extent, but upon Seifer Almasy's return to Balamb Garden, he'd laid down arms against Zell and the two of them were rarely seen apart anymore. They still called each other names, but the tone was different, and they only laughed about it. Furthermore, Seifer had a new target, and Zell delighted in the torment as well, adopting Seifer's nicknames and using them with malicious glee.

Pretty Boy, Cowgirl, Cowpoker, Tinker Bell, Prima Donna, Pansy, Prissy, which had recently translated into "Priscilla", Slut-Boy, which was actually a Zell Dincht Original, along with Mr. Two-Bullets-Short-of-a-Cartridge... And when Seifer was feeling particularly nasty, Gutter Whore.

And Irvine hadn't even done anything to warrant being a target! The blonde pair's favourite name at the moment was Tinker Bell, because they found the sharpshooter's protests that he wasn't a fairy amazingly funny. And they insisted he was. Which he wasn't. He couldn't be. He spent too much time with women to be gay. Him? Never.

It was their fault he hadn't yet made SeeD - which was, of course, something else they liked to tease him about - because he was so busy trying to avoid them he couldn't concentrate properly on his studies. At least when Seifer had been picking on Zell, there was only one of him. Irvine had the two of them to contend with.

And he was thoroughly disgusted with himself for sneaking around, as had become his habit. He had been able to deflect their taunts with a careless wave of his hand, or something snapped back to start with, but it was constant and there was only so much standing up he could do. Neo-Sorceress war or not, he was still only seventeen. Yet another fact they delighted in reminding him of, being younger than either of them and Squall as well.

He was almost to his room, so close, only three steps away, when someone squealed "Irvy!" and a streak of yellow tackled him, sending the books flying and the sharpshooter crashing against the wall with a slight grunt of pain. But he couldn't help smiling at Selphie when she apologized sheepishly and collected his books up for him.

"Hey, Selph."

"Hey! Where were you last night!"

Irvine affected a look of confusion, though he knew perfectly well what she was referring to, and the reason he hadn't gone.

"Quisty's birthday!"

"Oh! Dang! I, like, totally forgot!"

She looked at him, far more shrewd than anyone ever gave her credit for, and planted her hands on her hips, pouting at him.

"You're full of it, Irvine Kinneas. You didn't go 'cause you knew Beavis and Butt-Head would be there. You can't let them get to you. It's what they want. Remember we always used to tell Zell not to rise to Seifer's teasing, 'cause it's the reaction he's looking f-"

"I know that!" Irvine snapped and Selphie's eyes widened. "You, like, think I don't? But it ain't so easy as all that! It's-"

His breath hitched and he turned away, taking his books from her.

"I'll see you later."

"Irvine, don't cry... Please don't c-"

"I aint cryin'!"

And with that, he went the last three steps to his room and entered, auto-locking the door behind him.

He leaned back against it and slid to the floor, resting his forehead on his arms folded across his knees. He choked back the sobs, embarrassed, disgusted, angry with himself for letting them affect him so much. He knew she was right, he shouldn't rise, but it was so hard...

And they... they were so...

Ssso what...? What?

Nothin'. They're... nothin'.

You keep tellin' yourssself that, Cowboy. Jussst keep it up.

He was silent, tired of Leviathan's insistence that he stop pretending. He wasn't pretending. It was the truth. He wasn't gay. Couldn't be. No way. Climbing to his feet, the sharpshooter took himself for a hot shower, where he could cry without feeling the tears run down his cheeks.

 

Chapter, The Second: In Which Irvine Takes a Ride​

Irvine sat in his room, contemplating his options. He had a big test coming up. This one was going to be hard; he'd need to get in some study time. He tapped his pen against his desk in thought. It was early yet, so he had time to plan his routine.

If he stayed in his room all day the evil blondes would eventually find him and take turns banging on his door and calling to him through it. That wasn't going to make studying any easier. The library would be safe until after breakfast. After that it would be one of the first places they would look for him.

He couldn't hide out in Squall's office because then he would have to explain to the commander how much things were really bothering him. He was fairly certain Selphie was giving the group, minus the blonde bullies, updates on how he was doing, but it wasn't like he was letting her know everything either.

But he was getting off track. Where was he going to study? He couldn't keep jumping around. He'd lose his train of thought and just have to restudy the material. They were making his life hell!

He could head out of the Garden and go find a nice place on the plains, but annihilating Bite Bugs every few moments while reading was going to be almost as annoying as Seifer and Zell.

Irvine signed. This was getting him nowhere. He glanced out his window and suddenly it hit him. His window gave him a lovely view of Balamb Town. That's where he could go. He could go into their library, find a quiet little alcove and study to his heart's content. He checked his wallet. And he even had enough to grab some lunch while he was there.

He picked up his glossy red apple and took a bite. What a great idea. It was just like one of those lame 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' lines, but better. They'd spend all day looking for him around Garden, and never even think to look in town. Ha, he was a genius.

The auburn haired cowboy carefully made his way out of Garden, making sure as few people as possible saw him leave. Didn't want Seifer and Zell to be able to ask around and figure out where he had gone off to.

He smiled once he was outside and strode down the path to Balamb, book-bag over one shoulder, Exeter over the other. This was going to be a nice, study filled, peaceful day.

Irvine walked down the main street of Balamb, sneaking passed Zell's house carefully… never know, the tattooed idiot could be visiting his mom. He made his way to the library and hid himself away in the most discreet little corner, even the library staff probably didn't even know it existed. He read through his text, looked over his notes, drew out diagrams: everything he would need to know for the test. The only time he stopped was to clear his head and have a quick lunch before back to his library hide-away.

By the time he decided he'd studied enough and left, the sky was already dark and the streetlights were shining brightly. Well, he certainly hadn't meant to stay out quite this late, but darn if 'Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Para-magic' wasn't just the most interesting, long and tedious topic ever.

They should add "or Didn't Want" to that title.

At leassst you know it all now.

Yea, and no stupid blondes to get in my way either. Great day, really.

Irvine wrapped his duster more firmly around himself. It was starting to get chilly. It was autumn after all. Maybe the monsters would be huddling in their nests for warmth and leave him alone on his trek back.

He glanced up as he walked under the archway. He had heard something, a revving engine. Just ahead of him on the path was someone on a motorcycle. A pretty nice motorcycle too, dark red and blue. It was a Sleipnir (1). Nice ride…

The rider looked back at him. He was wearing a sleek, red helmet that matched the bike, the black visor down and making it impossible to see who was behind it. He seemed on the shorter side, but really, he was sitting on the bike with one foot on the ground to steady it. Wasn't the best stance to determine height.

The rider nodded his head in the direction of the Garden and Irvine suppose he was asking if that's where he was going too.

"Uh, yea, I'm headin' that way," he said, shifting his book-bag on his shoulder.

The man on the motorcycle patted the back of the seat.

"No, that's okay. I'll just, like, walk. No problem." He started walking but the guy patted the seat again. The wind decided right then was the opportune time to start blowing and make the night seem even colder. Irvine looked at his watch. He still had to make it back before curfew. "You wanna give me a ride?"

The rider nodded and shifted on the bike to steady it again.

"Well, since it is late and we have to, like, make curfew I guess it's alright."

The rider shifted around in his seat, popping the back open to pull out a second, not quite as cool, helmet. He pointed to Irvine's bag and then to the compartment. What, could the guy not talk or something?

"Oh, okay." Irvine put his book-bag where the helmet had been and stuck his hat safely next to it before putting on the helmet. He holstered his gun while the rider put the seat back down and then swung his leg over the bike.

He reached under the seat to where the little handles were and held on. The rider jerked the bike forward and then stopped it, causing Irvine to nearly fall off and then slam right into the other guy's back.

"Ooph…" Irvine looked at the back of the man's helmet before timidly placing his hands on the rider's hips. Those handles didn't make for a very comfy ride anyway, especially if you were tall.

Another start, jerk, and stop. The guy's shoulders were shaking a bit. He was laughing! Irvine glared. "What the hell are you doin'?" the cowboy asked a little perturbed.

The rider reached behind him and grabbed Irvine's hands, winding them securely around his waist, and causing the cowboy to press right up against him.

Irvine mentally groaned. "Look… I'm not gay, alright? But now we really do have to, like, get back to Garden."

A leather gloved hand patted his arms gently then wound around the handles. He revved the engine again and tore off towards the Garden.

Irvine nearly shrieked like a girl and wrapped his arms tighter around the man's waist so as not to fall right off the back.

They arrived in the car park not too long after. Irvine got off, legs a little shaky, and took off the helmet, handing it to the rider, who took it, opened the seat and allowed Irvine to take his belongings before putting the helmet away. He turned off the bike and sat there, not removing his own.

"Uh… well, thank you for the ride. I'll be goin' then."

The rider nodded and waved, and Irvine turned to leave. Once the auburn haired man was out of the car park and probably a good ways down the hall, gloved hands came up to grab hold of the helmet and pull it off.

The helmet was placed in his lap and his gloved hand came up to push messy blonde bangs away from his forehead and tattoo. He smirked to himself. "Worked perfectly."
FlashbackZell lay on his stomach on Seifer's bed, kicking his feet back and forth. "Your plan isn't working."

"You're just impatient. It worked on you."

"Woo, zippidee-doo-da-day. Teasing little Zell got him to realize he was gay. You don't even know if Irvine is."

"But he is!"

Zell rolled his eyes. "Does he realize there is something called bisexualism?"

Seifer shrugged and dropped on the bed, causing Zell to bounce off it at least a foot and come down with an 'ooph'. He smirked.

"Your plan's still not working, whether I'm impatient or not. I'm gonna do my own thing."

Seifer pouted, or acted like he was pouting. "You're not including me?"

"No! You get to call the shots in Garden. I'm gonna do my thing out of Balamb, so I call the shots, and you aren't helping."

"Mean Chicken-wuss."

"Don't be a cry-baby."

"You're the cry-baby!"

"Shut up. We'll keep doing your thing here, and I'll run my plan for a while and see how it goes, okay?"

"Fine."

"Good Seifer."

 

Chapter, The Third: In Which Seifer Pays a Visit.​

Good Seifer.

It still irked him. Two days later, and it still irked him. No one talked to him like that, like a dog, not even Zell. Especially not Zell, little Chicken. And he wouldn't tell Seifer what the hell he was planning that he was 'doing out of Balamb'. Which also irked him. Now, it was a competition. He had to get Irvine to admit what was inside of him before Zell did. He would.

That being said, it was time he went and found the cowboy, before he disappeared like he had so rudely the day before. Seifer knew Irvine had a test today, so he wouldn't be going far. Truth be told, he was probably still in his room. Time to pay him a visit.

Seifer stood from where he sat in the Cafeteria, dragging his trench coat off the back of the chair and pulling it on. He straightened the collar as the coat settled, then lifted Hyperion to his shoulder and strode out of the Cafeteria doors, a smirk set on his features.

In moments he was knocking on Irvine's door.

Whether it was because he had just woken and wasn't thinking straight, or whether it was because the day before he had managed to escape without harassment from sunup to sundown, Seifer would never know, but Irvine answered the door without asking who it was first.

And he was naked.

Well, not naked. But nearly. He only wore a soft, imperial purple towel slung low around his hips and the muscles in his arms and torso flexed a little as he rubbed at his hair with another. He stopped and his eyes widened when he saw who was there.

Seifer swallowed. He didn't think he could trust himself to open his mouth. Irvine's nipples were both pierced.

Irvine reached up and the door started to hiss shut, but Seifer put his foot out and the door registered it, pinging and opening again like an elevator would.

"That isn't polite," he murmured.

"Just go away."

"Now that really isn't polite. I'm a visitor. You're supposed to invite me in."

"Fuck. Off."

"Tell me where I can find him, and I will." Seifer dropped his voice. "Or maybe we could call you Off and I could fuck you, hmm...?"

Irvine swallowed and took two steps back. Seifer followed one, smirk growing.

"Seifer..."

"You'd like that, huh?"

Irvine scowled, drew his fist back, and let fly with a rather impressive right hook that Seifer never saw coming. Something cracked and the gunbladist staggered backward, holding a hand to his bleeding nose.

"Great to have visitors, really, but I've got a test in a couple hours. Good mornin'," Irvine hissed, and jabbed the button to close his door.

Seifer slapped a hand to it, leaving bloody fingerprints, and called out.

"I'm only trying to help you, Kinneas! You'll thank me sometime."

Silence.

"I've seen how you are!"

Still nothing.

"You never kiss them! You never do more than touch a hip or put your arms around a pair of pretty shoulders!"

"Shut up!"

Aha. Raw nerve, hmm...?

"They're all over you and you just smile and turn them aside, not so anyone would notice, but you do. I notice. I see."

"Go get your nose seen to. I think it might be broken!"

"Irvine, you fucking-"

"Piss off!"

"Irvine!"

His footsteps retreated away from the door, and another door within slammed shut. He wouldn't hear anything anymore, even if Seifer screamed his lungs out. Besides, the sharpshooter was right. His nose was fucking broken. He turned and headed for the Infirmary.

---------

Hyne, how could he have ever been so stupid? To open his door to Seifer Almasy? Where had his mind been? Actually, he could answer that. He knew where it had been. With the biker. He'd been thinking about the biker, so engrossed in remembering every detail of the ride back that it hadn't even occurred to him to do his habitual check of who was at his door.

The biker...

Irvine shook his head to clear it and dropped the towel from around his hips, reaching for a brush and working it carefully through his hair until all the knots were gone. Then he swiftly plaited the wet locks to keep them out of his way during his test.

A little more study before he went, and he'd be all set. He was pretty certain Seifer wouldn't bother him anymore today, and Zell would probably be glued to his side commiserating.

Hitting Seifer had kind of really rocked.

Irvine grinned, then went to his little fridge to find some breakfast. A couple of cold slices of pizza zapped in the microwave were just right and he sat and devoured them while quickly skimming his para-magic notes.

Today was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

 

Chapter, The Fourth: In Which Balamb is Visited.​

Zell strode out of the cafeteria and headed down the hall. As he went he caught snippets of conversation about someone getting their nose broken. That wasn't really very interesting, considering it was a fairly regular occurrence. When the words 'blonde' and 'scar' were also brought into that same topic, things got a little more interesting.

The martial artist decided to stop by the infirmary and ask Kadowaki if Seifer had in fact been in with a broken nose. He turned down the path and walked through the doors.

"Oh, hello Mr. Dincht, how can I help you? Are you ill?"

"No no, I'm fine. I was just wondering if Seifer was here this morning?"

"Yes, he was. He had a broken nose. And I don't believe it was monster inflicted either."

Zell's eyes widened a little. "You mean someone broke Seifer's nose?"

She nodded and headed back to her desk. "Yes, but he was adamant about it being the work of a very sneaky Grat. I've seen almost every kind of Grat and T-Rexuar injury possible, and this definitely was human inflicted."

Zell busted up laughing right there. Seifer had been caught off guard and had gotten his nose broken. Once the blonde had calmed slightly he smiled and waved a goodbye to the doctor before heading out.

Wonder who got the guts to clock Seifer one, other than me of course. Should give the person a medal of bravery for pulling a stunt like that.

He smirked to himself and went off in search of Mr. Almasy to do a little taunting of his own.

- - - - - - -

Irvine glanced at his clock and closed his books. Fifteen minutes was plenty of time to get to class, even if he were to be confronted which he doubted after his actions earlier this morning.

Seifer was probably trying to think up some wonderful scheme to get him back for it too. Irvine groaned at the thought and shook his head.

No, no, no, can't think about that. Water is strong against fire. Junctioning Sleep to attack is very useful against T-Rexuars. One way of organizing magic is Restore-Indirect-Attack. Okay, okay, better.

He poked his head out into the hall, looking both ways before slipping out and heading to class. On his way he checked several times to make sure he had all the necessary stationary. His eyes darted about, hoping to avoid the blondes.

The breathed a sigh of relief upon making it to his classroom without even a glimpse of them. Now he could relax and take the test with no worries. He took a seat and brought out his writing tools.

"Are you ready for the test?" one of his fellow classmates asked him.

"Yea, I studied hard. I think I'll do fine." Irvine smiled.

"Hey, some friends and I are going to head out and celebrate if we do well. Since the results will be posted by five we can go get a drink or something. You up for it?"

Irvine considered for a moment. Out with a group and away from a certain duo. He couldn't see a real downside to it. "Sure, that, like, sounds great."

"Cool, so we'll see you in front of the marks cabinet around 1730ish?"

"I'll be there." Irvine looked up to the front of the room when their instructor entered.

Instructor Aki stepped to the front of the room, a large stack of papers in his arms and turned to face his students. "I do hope you've all prepared for this exam. There will be no make up test, and those who do not have exceptional reasons for not attending will receive a zero. That said I will hand out the exams. You may begin as soon as you receive one."

The instructor handed out papers to those students in the front desks who handed the piles back. He sat down in the chair behind his desk and took out a novel. "If you have any questions regarding the exam, please do not hesitate to come to the front and ask me. I will give no hint or suggestion, but if the wording is too difficult for you, I may simplify it. You have three hours. Begin."

So, if we go ask him somethin' he considers us to be, like, morons. Won't be headin' up to the front then.

Wissse choiccce, Massster.

He cracked his knuckles and loosened up his hand for at least a couple hours of writing.

- - - - - - -

Irvine looked over his test, glanced up at the clock and looked at it again. It wasn't too bad. There were a few questions that he had to bullshit his way around, but at least his answers seemed convincing.

He stood and gathered his things, heading to the front of the room and placing the test on the pile that was slowly forming. He was in the top third of people already finished. That was good.

Irvine tipped his hat to the instructor who merely raised a hand, eyes glued to the pages of his novel.

'A Love to Dream'…? Freaky…

The cowboy headed out of the classroom and made his way swiftly to the cafeteria to grab a late lunch. The test had kept his mind off food but now he realized he was hungry, so he got a few things and headed back to his room. Didn't want to be cornered in the cafeteria. Without incident he made it back to his nice little sanctuary and flopped down on his bed to nibble at his lunch.

The test was over. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. There was no use worrying now, even if he was the worrying-about-test type. It was over, done, finished. Nothing could be done, so why bother thinking about it?

Since he had no more classes to worry about today he flicked on his TV and waited for 5:30 to roll around.

- - - - - - -

Irvine lazily drew his arm up to look at his watch. Time to head out. Man, afternoon TV just turned you into a vegetable. He switched off the set and got to his feet, stretching out all his muscles.

He glanced over to Exeter and considered whether he should take it or not. Just heading to check his marks and all… either he would have done well, and would go out in a group, less likely to be attacked by pitiful monsters, or he would do poorly and he'd take it out on some Grats. He could come back for it if that was the case, and he really hoped it wasn't.

He went over to his mirror and checked himself over. Lifting a hand to remove his hat, he turned left and right and decided to keep his hair in the braid. He dropped the hat back atop his head and headed out his door to meet his peers and check his marks.

A few minutes later he was on the second floor and amongst a crowd of fellow students, pushing and squirming to see their marks. Irvine, being tall, didn't exactly have to push to the front to get a decent view. He found his student ID number and followed the line over to his mark. He'd gotten an A, very high percent too.

He smiled proudly to himself. Just then a hand clapped his shoulder and he turned to see the classmate from earlier that day.

"Hey there! So, howed you do? Someone got 98 on that exam! Can you believe it?"

"Uh…" Irvine glanced around. "That was me."

The other boy stared at him like his brain was visible and twice its actual size.

"Well, I did use a lot of para-magic fightin' the sorceress and all, remember? It's like, hands on experience." Irvine smiled and scratched the back of his neck.

"Man! You're too much, Kinneas! So I guess that means you're coming out with us, ne? Me, Terry, Anasha, Illo, Harada, and Rikan all scored in our standards, so we're going to head into Balamb!"

"I don't think I ever caught your name?" Irvine commented as he was pulled over to a group of five other young men and women.

"Oh me? I'm Hiro, thought I said that earlier." He grinned, embarrassed at his forgetfulness.

"Nice to, like, meet you, Hiro."

"Yo, guys, this is Irvine Kinneas. Irvine, this is Terry, Illo and Rikan," he said indicating the three other men. "And this is Anasha and Harada, maybe you know them?"

"I believe I've had the pleasure of the lovelys' acquaintances," he smiled charmingly, tipping his hat which received him a set of soft giggles.

"I hope he's just talking about the girls," Rikan commented.

Illo gave him a sideways glance that was pretty obviously saying 'like you'd care'.

Rikan punched Illo in the arm and the whole group laughed.

Irvine felt a little out of place. Sure he was friendly and all, but it wasn't very often he was drawn into a group all by himself. Well, good to make friends. Maybe he could hide- hang out with them and avoid certain other people.

"So, are we all ready to go?" Anasha asked, looking around. "Me and Illo are driving cause we don't drink." She smiled and gave a peace sign.

"Yea," Illo added. "So feel free to get smashed."

Getting smashed was not something Irvine was about to do in a group full of people he had met only several minutes ago, but, it wouldn't stop him from tossing back a couple.

"Woohoo, let's go celebrate our A's!" Terry called and started running down the hall. The whole group followed suit and before Irvine even considered it he was alongside them, not even noticing the tattooed blonde standing to the right on the hallway.

Zell's eyes followed Irvine as he zipped by, almost tempted to call out 'no running in the halls, Kinneas'.

Fuck, I really am spending too much time with Seifer.

The blonde strolled into his room to grab his helmet. Maybe a visit to Ma was in order. He stripped out of his training jumper and wandered over to his dresser. He chose faded black jeans and a red long-sleeved shirt. From his closet he grabbed a black leather vest, then tucked his helmet under an arm and headed out.

He put on the headgear before even entering the car park. If the people Irvine had been with were still there then he couldn't blow his identity. As it turned out, they had already left. He got on his bike, turned the key and revved the engine. Moments later he was whizzing past the two cars, one carrying Irvine.

Irvine glanced out the window of the passenger seat. He had called shotgun, pretty much just because it had the words 'shot' and 'gun' in it. His attention was caught by a vehicle passing the car.

The biker…

Zell skidded into Balamb and parked the bike in the gas station, turning it off and whipping off his helmet. "Gastón, Pierre! If anyone asks who owns this bike, what do you do?"

"Salute, Zell!" Pierre replied. "We say we do not know, oui?"

"Yes," Zell grinned. "Thank you very much."

"It is no problem." Pierre waved as Zell zipped off and into his Ma's house, earning a warm greeting and a hug almost instantly.

- - - - - - -

Anasha and Illo pulled into a couple parking spots and the whole lot piled out. "I say we head to the bar, play some Triple Triad and discuss that exam-"

"Not necessarily in that order though," Harada added, giggling.

"Dunno, the exam maybe be a more interesting topic if drunk."

Illo hit Rikan in the arm this time, then flung and arm around Harada and headed in the direction of the pub.

"Aw, we're not going to the Pelican Zone?" Rikan whined, obviously trying to be annoying.

Terry rolled his eyes. "You're not dragging us there, Rikan. You can go by yourself."

Rikan raised a hand to his forehead and feigned shock. "It's too dangerous for an innocent child, such as myself, to tread those grounds unescorted."

Anasha giggled merrily. "You're not a child, nor are you innocent, although maybe it would be better if you went with someone. Maybe Irvy will go with you!"

"Would ya, pal?" Rikan asked, dropping an arm around Irvine's shoulders.

"I… I've never heard of the Pelican Zone." Irvine looked around, a little uneasy about the arm around him.

"Leave off him, Ri-chan," Illo called back.

"Leave off the anime! You and Harada watch too much!"

The two supposed anime fans turned to each other as if in shock, then turned back to Rikan. "Least we don't wanna drag everyone off to gay bars."

Irvine stiffened.

"They're fun, and I'm bi, so I'm allowed to go to gay bars." He stuck out his tongue.

Terry rolled his eyes a second time and grabbed Irvine from his dramatic friend. "Sorry, Kinneas. Don't mind him. He's not harmful… or contagious. Let's go, yea?"

"Yea, sounds great!" Irvine smiled brightly despite his sudden wariness towards Rikan. Was it just him, or were the stereotypical homos all somewhere else? Rikan was built, like Zell, tall like Seifer and had his dyed red hair done up in short spikes.

Where were the easy to spot, pink-frill wearing, make up enhanced, lispy, flamboyant fags? Irvine needed to avoid them. Not because he considered it wrong, but because he didn't want anymore fuel for the Blonde Brigade to use against him.

Soon everyone was sitting at a large half-circle booth, sipping drinks and chit-chatting. Anasha and Rikan were into a game of Triple Triad and the others were cheering them on between sips and breaks in their chat.

They were pretty nice people, but Irvine still wasn't going to get his guard down, or get completely drunk. But he was going to enjoy himself.

- - - - - - -

Zell sipped tea and talked with his Ma. They played a few rounds of Triple Triad, causing the blonde to lose a few of his better cards.

He frowned at his mother across the coffee table. "When'd you get so good?"

"Oh, dear, I'm not getting any better. But I think you're getting worse."

"Gee, thanks, Ma." Zell rolled his entire head then dropped his cheek into his hand.

"How are your missions going? Is there something on your mind?" she asked, pouring more tea for the two of them.

"Eh, missions are okay. Our little hero group doesn't get sent on too many anymore, not unless it's really serious. Otherwise just one or two of us lead smaller missions, so more free time."

"What are you doing to busy yourself?"

Zell leaned back against the sofa. "This and that. I train, I demonstrate for some classes. I've gotten into reading a bit more, bet you're happy about that."

She smiled brightly. "Well, you did love books when you were little, and you didn't have much time for them in Garden. I'm glad you have some time to relax. And your love life?"

The blonde nearly spit out his latest sip pf tea. "Do all parents take such keen interest in their children's love lives?"

She shook her finger at him. "That doesn't matter either way, and I'm pretty sure they do, so? Do you have a boyfriend yet? Are you and Seifer-?"

"Ma, please, Seifer? How many times did I call and whine to you about him, or run away from Garden because of him?"

"Well, you're friends now, aren't you?" She cocked her head to the side.

Zell looked up in thought. "Yea, we are." They were almost always together. Seifer was who made him realize the truth about him. But they weren't a couple. They weren't going out or anything like that. "But that doesn't mean we're suddenly a couple."

"He's cute."

"Ma!"

She smiled brightly. "Well, there's no denying the truth now, is there?"

Zell raised an eyebrow at her. "Can't you at least call him something like 'hot' or 'handsome' and not 'cute' like a puppy or a girl?"

"Why? Will he come beat me up?"

"I wouldn't put it past him."

They both grinned before starting to laugh. Zell recovered a little after his mother, wiping a stray tear from his eye and turning to look out the window that looked out over the main street.

He looked at his watch, then back out the window and at the cowboy heading by. It wasn't too terribly late, and he was alone. Seemed like he was going back early.

"Hey, Ma, it was great seeing you, but I should get going." He stood and went over to give his mother a hug. "I'll stop by again soon, okay? Need to win back my cards and all." He grinned and headed for the door, picking up his helmet on the way out.

"Be careful on your way home, Zell," she called, smiling and waving at him.

He gave her a thumbs up before closing the door behind him and putting on the helmet. Irvine was already half way to the archway. Zell grinned to himself and headed over to get his bike, wheeling it out onto the path just under the arch and got on, turning the key in the ignition and revving the engine.

Irvine stopped and turned around at the sound of the engine. He smiled slightly and lifted a hand to wave at the man on the bike.

Zell returned the wave then cocked his head at the back of his bike.

"Offerin' me another ride, are you?" Irvine called from his short distance, already starting to walk back.

Zell nodded and shifted to get out the extra helmet, leaving the seat open for Irvine to put his hat away for safe keeping.

"You know, if ya keep doing this I'll have to, like, give you somethin'." Irvine placed his hat in the little compartment and took the helmet from the biker.

Zell lifted a hand and shook his head.

"Well, you're very kind then." Irvine put the seat back down and flung a leg over the bike, arms going around the other man's waist. He didn't want to be jolted about on a stomach half full of alcohol.

Zell smiled to himself. Irvine was already so much more willing than the time before. Of course, that could be because he was out drinking and he wasn't thinking well. He revved the engine and headed off towards Garden.

Irvine rested against the rider. It was darkish, only them, no one would see, and it wasn't anything really. Maybe he had had a bit too much to drink. But that was alright, he had an excuse. Besides, the rider was warm on a cool autumn evening and it felt nice.

When they got back to Garden, Irvine was a little slower to get off the bike. As he was getting off he noticed a tattoo on the back of the biker's neck. The Balamb Garden insignia… lot of good that was. Tons of people probably had that.

The biker popped the seat and reached in to get Irvine's hat, holding it out to him.

Irvine smiled and took it, removing his helmet and handing it back to the man on the bike. He placed the hat back on his head and tilted it into place. "So, do I get to know who you are now?"

Zell raised a finger and shook it back and forth, shoulders shaking in a silent chuckle.

Irvine placed a hand on his hip. "Not even a word or two? You're very secretive."

The masked blond cocked his head to the side, then lifted a hand and waved.

"Uh, is that a good night, then?"

Zell nodded.

"Hm, good night to you too, Mr. Biker." Irvine turned and walked off, waving a hand back and forth until we was out of the car park.

Zell removed his helmet and rested his elbows on it, cheeks palmed in his hands, and smile on this lips. "Mm, g'night, Irvine."

 

Chapter, The Fifth: In Which a Kiss Occurs.​

Irvine stripped down to his boxers and put his hat aside when he got back to his room, then flopped down on his stomach upon the bed, hugging the pillow under his head. He was pleasantly tipsy, to the point where he had found himself in Rikan's lap before he realised what was going on. That had been why he left, but Rikan didn't seem upset, since he switched to trying to get Illo to kiss him. Rikan was absolutely off his head, so he probably wouldn't remember any of it anyway.

He hadn't thought he'd see the biker, though the stray thought that he was in Balamb again, where he had seen the biker before, had crossed his mind. The fact that he'd gotten another ride home made a great day even better. He'd broken Seifer's nose, scored 98, made some new friends and seen the biker again. He grinned into his pillow and curled up a little, trying to imagine what it would sound like if the biker said his name.

He couldn't. No voice he could come up with seemed to fit the man. Furthermore, no name he could think of fit the biker either. He'd even entertained really bikey names like "Butch" and "Tex", but those really didn't fit.

He sighed and stroked his braid in thought with one hand. Who was it? Who? And why wouldn't they say anything, or let him see their face? He made a disgruntled sound and pouted up at the window and the twinkling stars outside. He was sure the only reason he couldn't stop thinking about the biker was because he hated a mystery and he was dying to know who it was.

Sure, that was it. Not the warmth of the biker's back or the way it felt to be pressed against him.

Before he knew what he was doing, Irvine had slid one hand down his side and into his boxers to wrap long fingers around himself. His eyes flickered shut and he hugged the pillow tighter, lips parting in a soft sigh.

"Please..." he whispered, and he wasn't sure what he was pleading for.

- - - - - - -

Zell headed back to his room, humming happily to himself with his helmet tucked under his arm. He was playing the trip back to Garden over in his mind for the fifth time, a small smile touching his lips. It would be interesting to see if Irvine was still so willing to get on the bike when he wasn't half-way to drunk.

"Where have you been?"

Zell stopped, both brows lifting, and turned to see Seifer leaning against the wall in a small alcove, a cigarette glowing between his lips. His arms were folded. He looked pissed.

"Filthy habit," Zell said, then turned to continue on.

"Don't you fucking ignore me, Dincht."

The fighter didn't stop, but his brow creased. What the hell was up Seifer's nose? He smirked, suddenly remembering his visit to the doctor earlier that day. Oh. Right. That's what was up Seifer's nose.

Zell hadn't managed to find him when he'd gone looking originally, so he hadn't had his turn at taunting. He turned slowly, smiling sweetly at the gunbladist.

"I'm not ignoring you."

"Then don't walk off when I'm talking to you."

"Don't tell me what to do, Seifer," Zell said, then added sweetly; "Or I might break your nose."

Seifer snarled, tossing his cigarette aside into a potted plant where it fizzled in the dirt, then went out, leaving a curl of blue smoke before that, too, faded.

"What was that?"

"Who was it, Seif?"

"A Grat."

"Yeah, Kadowaki said you told her that, but she also said she's seen a lot of Grat-injuries, and yours wasn't one. Who was it?"

"Fuck. You."

Zell laughed, going over to pat Seifer's shoulder understandingly.

"Okay, okay. It was a Grat. With hands."

Seifer's hand came up lightning quick to grab the front of Zell's vest, lifting him onto his toes. Zell just blinked and arched a brow.

"You don't scare me anymore, Seifer."

Seifer snarled, but let him go, stalking off to Zell's room and punching in the code without so much as a by-your-leave. Zell rolled his eyes with a grin and went after the gunbladist, putting his helmet aside and shrugging out of his vest.

Seifer threw himself down in a fat armchair and put another cigarette in his mouth.

"Don't smoke that shit in my room, Seifer. You know I hate it."

Seifer's eyes slid to him, but he sighed huffily and put the cigarette back in the box, slipping it into a pocket of his trench.

Zell went to his fridge and pulled out a can of drink each for them, tossing one to Seifer and dropping to sit cross-legged on his bed before he opened his own.

"I've been looking for you since dinner, Chicken."

Fuck. Dinner. I said I'd meet him there.

"Oh, shit. Sorry Seifer."

Seifer shrugged.

"Doesn't matter."

"Yeah, it does. I should've been there. Tomorrow?"

"Whatever. Where did you go?"

"Oh... Balamb."

Seifer sat up a little, watching him with those sharp jade eyes.

"Irvine?"

"Yeah..."

"You blew me off for Irvine?"

"I didn't blow you off I just... forgot. I saw him going with some other guys and a couple of girls... It's hard to time it right, and I had to go."

Seifer didn't look very convinced, but he backed off and nodded.

"It was him," the gunbladist muttered abruptly.

"Huh?"

"Irvine. He hit me."

Zell snorted back a burst of laughter and managed to keep it to a low snicker.

"Irvine broke your nose? Damn, Seif, he isn't even a hand-to-hand fighter. He's a sharpshooter for Hyne's sake!"

Seifer bristled.

"Don't you think I know that! Why else do you suppose I told Kadowaki it was a Grat, stupid!"

Zell snickered again, shaking his head.

"Pathetic. Really."

"Shut up, Dincht, before I throw this fucking drink at you."

"Mess up my carpet and you can pay the cleaning bill."

Seifer growled and shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

"He surprised me. I never expected him to hit me."

"What'd you say...?" Zell wondered curiously.

"Er... I might have gotten a bit enthusiastic. I said he'd like it if I fucked him."

Zell was surprised by the protective anger that flared briefly inside of him before he quashed it. Seifer didn't mean it anyway. He had no wish to sleep with Irvine... did he? There was another faint flare, but he ignored it.

"No wonder he punched you. He still thinks he's straight."

"What about you?" Seifer wondered. "Any luck?"

Zell remembered Irvine's arms around his waist, his warmth at his back and smiled secretively at the gunbladist.

"A little."

"You're not going to tell me what you're doing, are you?"

"Not yet."

"Arse."

"Moron."

"Idiot."

"Dickhead."

"Cockbrain."

"That's the same thing!" Zell said, laughing.

"No it isn't!"

"Yeah, it is. Cock/Dick. Head/Brain. It's the same thing! I win!"

"Alright, alright. Lunch's on me tomorrow. I gotta get to bed."

"Why?"

Seifer paused.

"I don't know. Sounded good?"

Zell snorted and they spent the next few hours watching movies and sniping teasingly at each other.

- - - - - - -

Irvine started awake to a knocking at his door and blinked around blearily before he caught up with where he was. He looked around hastily for something to cover the embarrassing state of his boxers and threw on a robe as the knock came again.

"I'm comin'!" he called and went, opening his door to an anxious looking Rikan.

"Irvy!" he said, then cleared his throat. "Er... I mean, Irvine."

Irvine blinked.

"Yeah...?"

He looked warily at Rikan, who rubbed the back of his neck and shifted from foot to foot.

"Listen, man, I'm sorry about last night. I... didn't mean to upset you or piss you off or anything. I'd never really have taken you to the Pelican Zone. I joke around sometimes... but I'd never... y'know... force myself on someone or anything."

Irvine smiled hesitantly.

"No, it's okay... I wasn't upset."

"You weren't?" Rikan smiled hesitantly in his turn. "It's just... you left before the rest of us, and Illo said I was pretty bad last night... Apparently I just about pulled his shirt off..." The red-haired cadet trailed off, blushing faintly.

"No, I really wasn't. Just pretty tired."

"Yeah...? Illo told me... He said you were sitting in my lap."

Irvine felt suddenly hot, and he knew he was blushing furiously.

"He did?"

"Yep." Rikan smirked a little. "Said you kinda liked it too..."

"I... uh... that is..."

Rikan stepped forward, a hand tangling in the front of Irvine's robe and before the sharpshooter could even say "Hey!" the other cadet had captured his lips. Irvine made a tiny little noise of surprise and protest, but it only seemed to encourage Rikan, and a warm tongue ran along his lower lip. Without his thought or agreement, Irvine's body took over and cackled to itself as it parted his lips, inviting the tongue within.

Rikan slid an arm around Irvine's waist, pressing against him, and deepened the kiss, his other hand slipping into the sharpshooter's hair. Irvine shivered, and it was only partly out of fear. His hands fisted in Rikan's shirt and he whimpered.

"Hey!"

Rikan growled and drew back, displeased with being interrupted.

Irvine groaned. As if it wasn't bad enough...

"Hey!" Rikan said with false cheer, backing off in time that their new visitor just might not have seen. Irvine hoped. "Zell, yeah?"

"Yeah," Zell said with a bright smile. "And you...? I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"Eh, that's okay. I'm not a famous sorceress-killer." Rikan ran a hand through his short hair, quite obviously eyeing Zell off, while Irvine just tried to remember his own name.

He'd never been kissed like that before. He'd only ever kissed women, of course, and he was always in control of that. Having another man's tongue inside of his mouth... It was... kind've... ni- Don't even think it, Cowboy. Don't even

"Nah, guess not."

There was silence, then Zell prompted; "So?"

"Oh! Right! Sorry. Rikan." He stuck out a hand, which Zell took.

"Pleased to meet you."

"And you. Irvy never mentioned you."

Irvine rolled his eyes a little. That made it sound as though they'd known each other for a long time and as though they spent a fair bit of time together into the bargain. Zell arched a brow, mouthing "Irvy?" when Rikan glanced away. Irvine was mortified.

"Probably because we only just met yesterday," the sharpshooter said pointedly.

Zell looked suspiciously between the two of them. He knew he'd interrupted something, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was. Whatever it was, it pissed him off. He smiled nonetheless and looked at Irvine.

"Well, I guess it can wait. Just wanted to congratulate you."

Irvine looked blank.

"Congratulate me...?"

Zell grinned.

"On breaking Seifer's nose."

Irvine laughed sheepishly, blushing lightly.

"Oh. That. Yeah, it was pretty cool."

"Not bad for a Prima Donna."

Irvine looked away and Zell started to lift a hand to him, but remembered it wasn't time yet. Still, the way the sharpshooter flinched and drew in upon himself made Zell ache.

"Rikan, you better go..." Irvine said softly.

"What?" Rikan asked, stunned, and he shifted, putting himself between Zell and Irvine. Leave him alone, his grey-green eyes said, and Zell smirked. The little shit thought he could take Zell Dincht?

"I said you better go," Irvine repeated firmly, a hand coming to Rikan's shoulder. "Please. I'll... I'll see you later, okay?"

Rikan looked at him, obviously not impressed, but nodded. He pulled Irvine close, dropping his voice, but Zell still heard him.

"You call me if you need me at all, okay?" He slipped a small piece of paper into Irvine's hand. "If you need help or... or anything. Just call."

Irvine looked surprised, but he nodded mutely as Rikan backed off and headed up the hall, eyes meeting Zell's briefly as he passed him.

Leave him alone.

Zell smiled brightly and waved Rikan off. Then his eyes slid slyly to Irvine and he smirked.

"New boyfriend?"

Irvine shut the door.

Zell pressed his ear to it and heard Irvine slide down the other side and take a shaking breath. Oh, yes. Something had happened indeed. He narrowed his eyes and pushed away from the door, also heading off.

On the other side of the door, Irvine could only sit and breathe.

 

Chapter, The Sixth: In Which Rikan is Warned.​

"I think we might have a problem…" Zell said as he idly flipped through a copy of an Esthar magazine which catered to his tastes.

"If it's you making a mess of my room, don't even think about it, Dincht."

"Uh, no, that wouldn't be it. S'about Irvine." Zell flipped another page.

Seifer shifted in his chair. For some unknown reason, whether it was his room or Zell's, Zell almost always grabbed the bed before he could. "What is it? Are you going to tell me what you've been doing?"

"Hell no. That's my little secret. But I think we have a problem-"

"You just said that! What is the fucking problem?"

Zell looked up from his magazine which was obviously causing some distractions. "Oh, I think someone else is after him. A cadet by the name of Rikan."

The scarred blonde leaned forward attentively. "Why do you think that?"

"When I went to go see Irvine, to congratulate him for breaking your nose-"

"You fucking little prick!"

"What, can't congratulate him? Anyway, Rikan is there and I know I had interrupted something, I just don't know what. And Rikan was giving me death-glares like I should back off him and his stuff, which I think he means to be Irvine. Then, when Irvine told the red-headed idiot to leave and shut his door in my face I could hear his breath, all shaky like. I dunno what Rikan did, but it rattled Irvine up."

"What do you think he did?"

"How many times did I just say I didn't know? But for clarification, I'll say it again. I. Don't. Know."

"Big word there, Chicken. Don't hurt yourself." Seifer grinned and sat back in his chair, bringing his feet up to rest on the mattress. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Whaddaya mean?" Zell cocked a brow, resting his cheek in his palm.

"Well, either we make Rikan fuck off, or we out Irvine before the little cadet does."

"You're still a cadet, Seifer."

"Don't even go there."

Zell snickered and looked back down at his magazine. "Does it really matter if it's us or him that makes Irvine realize he likes men? I mean, it's the same outcome."

"It's not the same outcome at all, you idiot. First you fuck it up by doing your own thing, now you want to let someone else out him instead?" Seifer crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Zell.

"Holy fuck, Seifer, get a grip. I didn't know you cared so much about our little 'Out Irvine' game. And no, honestly I don't want Rikan getting to him first. That would just suck. So, what do you wanna do about it?"

That trademark grin spread across Seifer's lips. "Tell him to stay away from Irvine or we'll make his life hell."

"Jeeze, do you have to be so… so…"

"Like me?"

"Yea. But I think you're right. He won't back down to me. He might back down to you, but I bet he'd definitely back down to both of us."

"So, it's settled. We'll find this Rikan and tell him to keep clear of the cowboy."

"Right… but after I finish this magazine…"

Seifer rolled his eyes and took out a cigarette. Zell couldn't complain since they were in his room this time.

Irvine struggled out of his robe and made his way into his bathroom. He reached into the shower and turned on the water before dropping his boxers. He needed a shower anyway… after his little date with his hand. But now he needed one even worse.

He felt the water and adjusted the temperature, then stepped under the hot spray. He scrubbed the back of his hand across his lips. What had Rikan been thinking? That drunkenly sitting in someone's lap who was also drunk, and then saying you weren't offended automatically meant 'stick your tongue down my throat'?

Irvine shook his head. What else would he have said? 'Oh yes, I was mortified and embarrassed by both of our actions last night, and I don't think I can ever be around you again'? Not the most decent line to send someone's way.

Still… that kiss was… if he ignored the fact that it was another guy. If he could just focus on the kiss itself, on how submissive he had been, on how little control he had had. It was so new and different and really… really, really wonderful.

He pulled his hair out of its braid in frustration. Even if he could admit that it was good, it was still another guy, and he didn't like guys. So he had sat in Rikan's lap. He was friendly, and drunk. Can't forget drunk. Drunkeness is a wonderful tool for denial. Considering he wasn't that drunk anyway.

But… that kiss was different in a lot more ways than just who took the lead. Rikan didn't taste the same as the women Irvine had kissed before. Not at all. Of course, he'd never thought they would taste the same… because he hadn't even thought about kissing men, period!

This was all so frustrating. Irvine raised his fingers to his lips. Well, that was it. His first man to man kiss. Couldn't deny it at least happening, but he could deny enjoying it until the day he died… or, he hoped he could.

Without even noticing he began to think about the biker again. He wondered if the mysterious man kissed like that, or if he was more dominating or gentler than Rikan had been. Faster to take what he wanted or slower to tease. Irvine mentally smacked himself and rested his head against the shower wall.

Today… is not a very good day…

And it hasss only jussst begun.

Shut up.

Seifer had used his old Disciplinary Committee channels to check the school populous for cadets named Rikan, and then find out what classes he had. Zell, all the while, had nervously kept watch while shadow boxing. So what if he was a bit of a chicken when it came to hacking files you weren't supposed to be in.

Seifer walked out of the office he used to report school offences to and waved a piece of paper in Zell's face.

Zell sighed a breath of relief and dragged Seifer away from the room. "Let's go have lunch and discuss, okay?"

The taller blonde wrapped an arm around Zell's shoulders and marched down the hall.

"Seifer! You're going too fast!" Zell complained, trying to keep pace with the long-legged bastard.

Despite the smirk and little chuckle Seifer did slow down a bit. "What do you want to eat? Hotdogs?"

Zell grinned delightedly. "Of course I want hotdogs. What are you going to have?"

"Chicken, maybe," Seifer said, smirking.

"Oh no, Seifer, don't eat me!"

Seifer grinned and swooped down to pretend to devour Zell's neck, which caused Zell to push at him and laugh harder.

Everyone in the hall stared. Someone cleared their throat. Seifer stopped. Zell looked up.

"Eheh… heh. Now I'm a vampire too! BLAH!" the tattooed blonde cried, jumping toward a group of girls who jumped at the sudden movement and giggled. Zell tapped one of his little natural fangs before Seifer grabbed him by the collar and dragged him off.

"Idiot."

"You're the one that was molesting me in public."

"I wasn't molesting you. I was eating you."

"Of coooourse you were, Seifer. Come on, hurry up or we won't find seats and I'll have to sit in your lap," Zell whined pulling on Seifer's sleeve now that he was ahead.

"First you tell me I'm going too fast, and now I'm going to slow? Make up your little chicken-brain, Dincht."

They headed through the doors and into the cafeteria. "Oh! I see two chairs. I'll grab those, you get lunch." And with that Zell tore off to save the seats.

A few minutes later Seifer was placing their lunch down on the table and shoving Zell's feet off his chair.

"Yay, you got me a jello cup." Zell smiled extra wide.

"Mhmm." Seifer had pulled out the piece of paper he had written Rikan's information down on and was looking at it.

Zell leaned over to get a glance too, eating a hotdog at the same time. "We can go find him right after we eat."

"Zell, chew, swallow, and then speak." Seifer pretended to wipe chunks of hotdog off his sleeve that really weren't there. Zell was talented at speaking with his mouth full. "But you're right. He'll be getting out of class in about forty minutes. You remember what he looks like?"

"Sure, he was pretty hot."

Seifer turned his head to give Zell an odd look. "What? I'm not dating anyone."

"Yea, you're right. But a cadet?"

"I said he was hot, not the next in line to be my life partner. Don't worry. I'll still be spending more than enough of my free time with you."

"I'm not jealous of you looking at other men, Chicken," Seifer said, although something in him wasn't sitting quite right.

"Other? Are you implying I look at you?"

"If you were blind you'd still look at me."

Zell ran his eyes up and down Seifer before bringing a hand up to fan his face. "Oh baby," he said, grinning from one ear to the other.

Seifer shook his head. "Eat your food, you idiot."

The blonde duo was leaning against the wall opposite the classroom Rikan was in, waiting for dismissal and the redhead to come out.

"That him?" Seifer asked as a sandy redhead strode out of the room.

"No… and I think that's a girl."

"Really?" Seifer leaned forward to look down the hall the way the person had gone.

"There, that's him."

Green eyes swept back to the door to catch site of the unnatural red hair sitting atop a male's head.

The two blondes waited for him to start down the hall before following behind him, and then sidling up on either side.

"Hello again, Rikan."

Rikan's senses were already telling him he was between a wall and a hard place… or, in this case, two blondes that could kick his ass five times over before he hit the ground. "Oh, hey Zell… and this is-"

"Almasy, Seifer Almasy, ex-Sorceress Knight and Balamb Bully. Pleased to meet you." So what if Ultimecia was a subject he didn't like to think about too often. Fucking wonderful tool for intimidating someone.

"Right… how could I forget… can I help you?"

"What is your current relationship with one, Mr. Irvine Kinneas?" Zell asked, sounded far too serious. Seifer even glanced over at him.

"None of your business, man."

Seifer lifted a hand to rest it on Rikan's shoulder. "Oh, please tell us. We're very interested."

Rikan rolled his shoulder to dislodge Seifer's hand, but it didn't work. "He's my boyfriend."

Seifer chuckled almost merrily. That was an impossible answer.

"I doubt that. He's straight, Rikan."

"No he isn't. He kissed me," Rikan insisted.

Seifer cocked a brow. "He came onto you?"

"Yea. Last night he sat in my lap, and this morning he kissed me."

"You initiated the kiss, didn't you?"

Rikan looked from Seifer to Zell. "Uh… yea, I did."

"And then he told you to leave, didn't he? Sorry, bud, but you just startled and confused him. You should back off before he hates you for what you're doing."

The redhead looked at his feet as they all kept walking. "I don't want him to hate me."

"Don't assume things, kid. They're rarely right," Seifer said releasing Rikan's shoulder and stopping to allow the cadet to go on his way. He then turned to look and Zell and cocked a brow. "Someone was a little cruel."

"Someone's been hanging about someone else far too much then."

Seifer smirked. "Think he'll back off?"

"Let's see. Now he thinks that if he so much as looks at Irvine, Irvine will get the shivers, and not the good kind. So, I think it's promising."

Seifer nodded and the two continued down the hall. "Now it's back to us. Still not telling me what you're doing?"

"Nope," Zell said shaking his head.

 

Chapter, The Seventh: In Which the Girls Offer Some Home Truths.​

Zell lay on Seifer's bed throwing a ball up against the roof and catching it when it came back down. He was singing between thuds, using them to keep the beat.

"Last night, I was inside of you. Last night, while making love to you. I saw the sun - the sun! - the moon - the moon! - the mountains and the rivers. I saw heaven while I made sweet love to you!"

"I don't think you're supposed to sing the echos yourself..." Seifer said through gritted teeth. The thudding was pissing him off.

Zell looked at him.

"Well, who's gonna sing them? You?" The fighter snorted as though the idea were particularly ludicrous.

It was three days since they had... politely warned Rikan, and so far as they could tell, he was afraid to even go near Irvine - at least by himself. But the sharpshooter was spending more and more time with the group he had gone out with that evening, making it harder and harder for either blonde to catch him alone. And the one time Seifer had said anything, one of the group had floored him with a Water spell, then they'd all pointed and laid blame on each other until Seifer couldn't tell which had done it. Irvine had lurked behind the group the whole time, snickering.

The fucker.

"I can sing," Seifer muttered.

Thud.

"Sure."

Thud.

"I can."

Thud.

"I believe you." But it was plain he didn't.

Thud.

"I can!"

Thud.

"I said I believe you!"

Seifer shot out of his seat and moved like a striking snake, hand lashing out to snatch the ball out of mid-air. He tossed the ball in the waste-paper basket and dared Zell to even try and get it back with a glare. Then, he sang.

"I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter. I had to fall, to lose it all, but in the end, it doesn't even matter."

Zell blinked. Seifer's voice was warm and clear, deepened another half-octave when he sang, and very in-tune.

"Wow... You can sing."

"I told you so."

Zell snorted and shook his head a little.

"Telling me and it being true are two different things, especially with you, Seifer."

It was Seifer's turn to snort.

They fell silent a moment, then suddenly Zell groaned and rolled over onto his stomach, propping his cheeks in both hands.

"This sucks!"

"I didn't think my company was that bad..." Seifer drawled, flipping Hyperion into his lap and taking a rag to the blood-dulled metal. They'd spent an hour in the Training Center before retiring to the gunbladist's room.

Zell just looked long-sufferingly at him.

"Not that. Irvine."

"Don't know if he sucks either. He still thinks he's straight."

"Seifer! Can you be serious for just one second, please!"

Seifer just smirked.

"We can't get near him. The Cadets flock 'round him like they know we're coming!" Zell whined.

"They probably do. We always are."

Zell growled, hands fisting like he'd enjoy smacking down every single member of "The Cadets" as he'd dubbed them, which wasn't really all that inventive.

"Have you seen the way Rikan takes every opportunity to touch him!"

"Yes."

"And the way he's starting to relax about it all!"

"Yes."

"And how Rikan looks at him!"

"Yes."

"And how-"

"Yes, Hynedammit! Will you shut up!"

Zell lapsed into silence, jaw set, and picked at the burgundy duvet cover, quite obviously in a snit now.

Seifer grumbled and jerked his fingers through his hair, glaring at Zell's tense shoulders. The little shit still irritated him, even if they were friends. He was sure the fighter did it on purpose. He swore inwardly, then relented and said something he rarely said to anyone.

"I'm sorry."

Zell looked at him petulantly, lower lip stuck out.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Seifer said more sincerely. "I know."

Zell sighed and sat up.

"'Sokay. It's not your fault. We just need to get him away from that damn group."

"Evidently, Chickie, but how?"

"...I don't know..."

- - -

Irvine held a pencil between his fingers, tapping it repeatedly against the pages of the book he was taking notes from.

"Irvy," Harada muttered suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Stop it!"

Irvine blinked owlishly at her, then looked sheepish and he, she, Rikan and Anasha all tried to muffle their laughter, since they were in the library. It was about the twentieth time one or other of them had asked him to stop the tapping.

"Sorry, guys. I just can't concentrate properly. I think I might call it a day."

"Want an escort?" Rikan wondered.

"Nah," Irvine said, laughing a little. "I think I can handle it."

"Okay," Harada said with a smile, then turned her attention back to her books. Anasha leaned over, head close to the other girl's to ask a question about a diagram.

Rikan watched Irvine go, cheek propped in hand, and smiled stupidly. He became aware of the girls' silence and looked over at them.

"What?"

"Give it up, Rikan," Harada said.

"Give what up?"

"Mooning over Irvine," Anasha said flatly. "It's so obvious."

"I'm not m-"

"Oh, you so are!"

"It's a bit sickening, really."

"And he's not going to give into you."

Rikan's eyes narrowed a little at Anasha.

"What do you mean he's not going to give into me? You're implying he will give into someone else?"

"Zell," Anasha said, at the very same time as Harada said; "Seifer." They giggled at each other while Rikan grumbled to himself.

"Whatever," he said eventually.

"Well, one of them anyway," the girls said together.

"He hates them."

"Yeah, and how many hot and steamy relationships have developed out of hate? It's just a matter of time until one or other of them jumps him," Anasha pointed out.

"Or both," Harada added.

They sighed dreamily, obviously picturing the very thing and Rikan rolled his eyes. What was with girls finding gay men so hot together...? Freaks...

"Maybe I should jump him then," Rikan said fiercely.

"Right. Well, don't expect us to clean up what's left of you on the walls and floor after Seifer and Zell get through with you, 'kay?" Harada muttered, Anasha nodding fervently beside her.

Rikan bristled.

"They don't scare me."

"Then you're an idiot!" a voice piped up, and the three cadets jumped.

It was none other than Selphie Tilmitt. They were being bugged by very high-profile people lately... If it weren't for the fact that they were often scared out of their wits by the aforementioned high-profile people, they'd feel special.

"Er... hi..." Anasha said shyly, going a touch pink.

Selphie beamed at her.

"Hiii! Anyway, as I was saying, guy-with-red-hair, you're an idiot if you're not scared of Zell and Seifer. I'm scared of Zell and Seifer. Well... I'm not really scared of Zell, 'cause he's like a big, muscley teddy-weddy, if you're not on his bad side. But I'm scared of Seifer. And I'd be scared of Zell if I pissed him off, which you will if you jump on Irvy-wervy. And 'sides that, Irvy will run away so fast! You'll never see him again. Ever. You shouldn't scare him like that, 'cause then I'll be pissed at you, and you'd have to be scared of me as well as Seifer and Zell, who you should already be scared of, unless you're an idiot. Okay? Got it? Good! Baibai!"

And she turned and flounced off.

"She's so pretty..." Anasha sighed, while Harada and Rikan just tried to decipher what the hell Selphie had said, and where the hell she had taken a breath.

- - -

Irvine hurried back to his room at a quick trot, hoping to avoid The Blonde Brigade. He really would have liked to have taken Rikan up on his offer of an escort, but the cadet still made him nervous, even around the others.

He usually took a huge detour to avoid both Zell and Seifer's rooms, but he was sure they'd be out having dinner by now, so he needn't worry. Unfortunately, he miscalculated. Just as he was passing Seifer's room, the door hissed open, and out came Zell, Seifer close on his heels.

"...never away from them anymore!" Zell was saying, and he blinked in utter shock when his eyes fell on Irvine.

"You were saying...?" Seifer drawled at the shorter of the two, a smirk of pure evil touching his mouth.

Zell matched it and Irvine's eyes slid away from them as he hugged his armful of books to his chest.

"I was just goin' back to my room," he said softly. Like they cared.

"Can we come with?" Seifer purred.

"We'd make it worth your while," Zell added in the same tone.

Irvine's sky-blue eyes widened and he blushed, ducking his head and giving it a slight shake of negation. But he knew he couldn't stop them if they really wanted to... to...

Hyne, would they!

And would you truly not enjoy it, Massster?

Irvine winced, backing against the wall, even though neither blonde advanced towards him.

"Pansy..." Seifer muttered. "Hyne, you're a coward."

"Gonna cry...?" Zell teased.

Yes. He was. How utterly pathetic of him. Irvine screwed his eyes shut, swallowing back the urge for tears.

"Of course he's gonna cry," Seifer sneered. "He's a prissy pretty boy."

"I've gotta go..." Irvine whispered, inching along the wall.

They're right though, aren't they? You're goin' to cry, and now you're runnin' away? Coward. Coward, coward, coward!

But he couldn't stand up to them anymore. They'd broken him, and it only took a few words now to bring him to the edge of tears.

"What if we don't want to let you go?" Seifer wondered softly. He went to take a step forward, but Zell put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, and Irvine bolted.

Seifer turned a furious glare on Zell.

"What the fuck!" he snarled.

Zell stared at him.

"I... I don't know," he murmured, and he wasn't lying. He didn't know why he'd stopped Seifer. It had never bothered him before...

"Get your act together, Dincht!"

"Yeah... Yeah, I... I'm sorry, Seif. I don't know what got into me."

Seifer forced himself to calm and shook his head.

"C'mon. Let's go get something to eat. Idiot..."

And he walked off. Zell looked where Irvine had gone, then turned and followed Seifer, utterly confused.

 

Chapter, The Eighth: In Which Seifer and Zell Don't Have Dinner.​

Zell sat on his bed, alone for once. After he had walked Seifer back to his room, he'd left to go to his own.

What was that about?

Zell couldn't understand why he had stopped Seifer. He'd never done it before. He just seemed to overstep his bounds this time, though it hadn't ever bothered him before, never, not once, why now?

His gaze shifted over to his helmet, sitting on a hook by his door. He tilted his head a little, then reached over and grabbed his phone, dialing his Ma, who picked up, like always on the second ring.

"Hello, Dincht residence."

"Hey Ma, how are you?"

"Oh Zell! I'm wonderful, dear. How are you?"

"Feeling a little homesick. You too busy to have your baby boy over for the night?"

"Oh honey, I'm never too busy for you. Have you had dinner yet?"

"No. Seif and I were going to go grab some, but something came up and we had to make a rain-check."

"Well, I'm cooking right now, it should be ready in 15 minutes. You can get here that quick on your little bike, can't you?"

"Ma," Zell groaned. "It is a sexy and expensive motorcycle. If you're gonna call it a bike ya gotta say it with a bit more oomph."

"Yes, Zell, dear, I know what it is. I signed for it since you were under age."

Zell pouted at the phone. "I still bought it."

"It's in my name."

"Be nice!"

"I'm always nice, dear. Now hurry home, and bring a change of clothes this time. Your PJs are all washed and ready for you from last time."

"Thank you, Ma. I'll see you soon." Zell hung up and walked over to his closet and dresser to pick out what he'd wear tomorrow.

- - -

Irvine tore down the hall and to his dorm as fast as he could, punching in the code lightning fast, practiced from all of his previous escapes.

He dropped his books on the ground before falling there himself. He fell to his knees, hands coming up to cover his tear stained cheeks and rub the dampness away. Why, why, why? Why was it so easy for them? How could they send him over the edge of despair so quickly, so easily?

It hurt so much. Just seeing them made it hurt. He could never forget anything they had done to him. The sight of them triggered the rush of painful memories and he would be in tears in moments.

He left his books where they were and dragged himself over to his bed crawling onto the mattress and collapsing, too pained, too miserable to care about anything right then. The rim of his hat hit the mattress and dislodged itself from his head, coming to rest on its side.

Irvine lazily picked it up and dropped it on his bedside table before curling up, arms tightly around the pillow his face was currently buried in and cried himself to sleep.

- - -

Seifer hadn't even bothered to invite Zell back into his room, and the mood between them was definitely not going to make for a pleasant dinner, so that plan was dashed. As soon as his door was open, Seifer had walked into his room and let it shut, not even uttering a 'good night', or a 'see you around'.

He dropped back against the door, leaning against it and glaring moodily about the room.

What the fucking hell was he thinking!

The blonde jerked from his position against the door and paced around his room. He was ticked, more than ticked. Zell had never, not once in all the time they had spent together since they had become friends, stopped him from doing anything.

So what was up with him? It was strange. Even though he'd never done it, Seifer knew exactly what he had meant, with just a touch. And what surprised Seifer even more was that he obeyed.

He hadn't shrugged the hand off and continued. He hadn't pushed for anything more. He had stopped, though quite pissed about it and that confused him a little.

- - -

Zell parked his bike in the little back corner of the Balamb Gas Station. Being a beloved Balamb SeeD and all around liked guy had its perks. No rain ever touched his baby.

He got his little overnight bag out of the seat compartment and made his way down the street to Ma's. He opened the door without knocking as his mother knew he was on his way and set his things on the sofa in the living room before heading into the kitchen.

Ma was just finishing up with the cooking, so Zell went about setting the table. He smiled when she looked over to him.

"Hey, Ma, smells great."

"Thank you, dear. I hope you're hungry."

"I'm always hungry. I'm a growing boy you know."

"That'll be a change from the last five years."

"Low, Ma, real low."

She just chuckled and set the food out before removing her apron and sitting down at one end of the little table. Zell sat at the opposite.

"So, you and Seifer got into a fight?" Ma asked, filling her plate up with the delicious meal she had made.

"Ma, we had a disagreement. It wasn't a fight. It wasn't that serious."

"Serious enough to make you want to come home."

"Can't a nearly grown boy want to spend some quality time with his mother?" She gave him a look. "Okay, so that might not fly. But it really wasn't anything big. And besides, it's a Friday night. I can sleep in my own room and feel like a kid again." Zell grinned across the table.

"Well, you certainly still have your baby-face. I'm sure all the boys love it." She ate her dinner and half-hid her smirk behind her chewing.

"Ma, can we not discuss my sex life at the table?"

"Sex? Oh my, Zell. I didn't know mentioning a young man thinking you were cute lead right to sex."

"And here I thought you followed gay culture."

They both chuckled and ate for a while longer.

"So?" She wiggled her brows suggestively at him. "Have you, you know?"

Zell stared across the table. He only wished this wasn't a fairly common question for her to ask.

"Ma, must you? While we eat?"

"It's the only time you can't run into your room, lock your door, and turn your music on."

He rolled his eyes. She was right. He would have done that had he not had such yummy food on his plate. "Fine, to appease the nosiest mother of all time, no, your sweet little baby boy has not been getting jiggy with it."

"No cute bottoms?" Ma asked, holding her napkin to her mouth to hold back the laugh. She had meant both subs and butts. Evil woman.

"I'm not going to buy you a Mother's Day present now," Zell said firmly, resolving to finish his dinner and escape before she started to get more personal, which she never did.

They finished their dinner, watched Galbadia Idol- through which Ma had pointed out cute boys and Zell kept telling her to be quiet, played a game of Chocoplunker and then went their separate ways for bed.

Zell got into his room and looked around, smiling. Everything was nice and neat and his PJs were folded on his bed. He stripped out of his clothes and tossed them in the hamper, pulling on his baby blue, chocobo-print, silky-feeling PJ pants, and the white tank he used for the top.

He shuffled along the floor in his socks, doing so on purpose so the knob on the bathroom door would shock him when he went to touch it. Zell was a little odd. He scooted in and made himself all pretty for sleep and brushed his bangs down before scooting back into his room and into his bed.

- - -

Saturday was the official, universal, mandatory sleep-in day, unless you were Irvine Kinneas and had moped yourself to sleep a good several hours before any normal teenager would have.

Irvine's head slowly lifted from his pillows and looked at the clock, its numbers glowing 6:27 at him. He furrowed his brow at the clock. That just wasn't cool. He looked down at himself to see he was still fully dressed.

He made a face and shifted out from under the covers he had got into some time in the night. He didn't like sleeping fully dressed. It never was that comfortable and he woke up feeling grimier than usual.

Irvine stripped as soon as he got to his feet and moseyed over to his bathroom to clean up and start another day. He thought about a quite day in Balamb, by himself. Sure it was great to be with his new friends, who protected him from Seifer and Zell, and were fun and kind, but he needed some time away too. He needed some time away from Rikan too.

No matter what the activity, or how many of the group were involved, Rikan was always there, and always was as near to Irvine as he could be, while still just being friendly.

A peaceful day, in Balamb would be good for him. He could take a book in case he felt like studying a bit while he was there too. Yea, that's what he would do.

After his shower, brushing and braiding his hair, and doing all the other necessary morning activities, Irvine went back into his room to dress and grab one of his books. The Do's and Don'ts of Weapon Modification. It wasn't like he needed too much study time with GFs: Friends or Foes, or Guardian Forces: Their Powers and Uses. He was pretty much an expert there.

He pulled on his duster and wrapped a long, thick, cotton-white scarf around his neck. It was chilly out this bloody early. He strode down the halls of Garden rather confident for once since the end of the last sorceress war, being alone and all. There was no hope in hell that Seifer Almasy was up before 7AM on a Saturday.

Irvine exited the Garden and breathed in the clean, fresh air of the cool autumn morning. He was even more awake then and happily headed off towards the town of Balamb. Only a few very groggy BiteBugs cared enough to wake up and attack him. He shot two, then walked up to the third and hit it on the head with the barrel of his gun, just because he didn't think he'd get that particular chance too many more times.

- - -

Irvine's day was going great. He had a big breakfast at a seaside café which served him for lunch as well. He'd probably grab a snack when he got back to Garden, and have dinner at the usual time. Didn't want to throw his schedule off too badly.

It was early afternoon now, and he had wandered off toward the pier to watch the water and the goings on. He glanced to his right when he heard footsteps coming towards him. He tensed up automatically, fearing that it would be one of the blondes. He turned his gaze over his shoulder and gave a sigh of relief.

He looked back over the water and chuckled faintly. "Hello, Mr. Biker," Irvine greeted as the man sat down next to him, wearing his helmet as always.

Zell nodded his head in greeting. Irvine seemed at ease around him when he thought he was a complete stranger. It was kind of funny.

"Where's your bike?" Irvine asked, turning to face the mystery man, who hooked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the front of town. "And you're wearin' your helmet… why?" Irvine cocked a brow.

Zell shifted his hand from over his shoulder to point at Irvine.

"Oh really? I'm still not allowed to, like, know who you are?" A shake of the helmeted head. "You know, that's not very nice." A shake of the shoulders. "It's amazin' we talk so much." Irvine snorted.

Irvine glanced down at something rectangular in the other man's lap. "Whatcha got there?"

Zell held up the little notebook before flipping it open and clicking a pen. He wrote /Hi/.

Irvine looked over at it and chuckled. "Hi, to you too. You're strange."

Zell nodded. /What's your name/

Irvine Kinneas. Orphan. Raised at an orphanage run by Edea Kramer on Centra with myself, Seifer, Quistis, Selphie, Squall and Ellone. Then, I dunno, and then off to Galbadia. Heh, it'll put him further off my scent to ask.

Irvine looked up at the biker. "Irvine… it's funny to have people not recognize me. Heh. Guess I've gotten use to, like, being a celebrity. What's your name?"

/Call me Rubedo/ Zell wrote. He wasn't even totally lying either. That was the middle name Ma had given him.

"Rubedo, hm? And how about, why do you refuse to take off your helmet?"

/I take it off. Just not around you./

Irvine raised a brow. "And why is that?"

/This is fun./

Irvine laughed. "I guess it kinda is. How old are you?"

/18, you/

"I'm seventeen." Irvine waved at a couple that was walking by and looking at them funny. Irvine wasn't usually so interested in asking questions, but the biker had been a mystery for a number of days, and now he was finally getting some answers. "Cadet or SeeD?"

Zell thought quickly about how many male, eighteen year old SeeDs there were at Garden. There were a few. Enough that he could truthfully give away the answer.

/SeeD/

"That's pretty impressive. Bein' a SeeD at 18. Guess it's what they expect though, huh? Since you can become one at 15, and are, like, kicked out at 20 if ya didn't make it."

Zell nodded. He was really happy about being a SeeD. Now that he was good friends with Seifer he was also worried about him. He didn't have that much longer to pass, and he desperately wanted to keep Seifer in Garden. They were such good friends after so many years of fighting and hating.

A hand waved in front of Zell's face and he looked back at Irvine.

"I can't even see your face and I still knew you zoned out. Your body language is easy to read."

/You looking at my body, Irvine/

The cowboy flushed a soft pink. "No, I'm just, like, usin' my skills of observation. It's important to be able to read body language."

/I know. I'm just kidding./

"Oh, sorry."

/Sore subject/

Irvine laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. It was a confused, hurt, agreeing, understating kind of laugh. "You wouldn't even believe me if I told you."

Zell lifted a hand to rest on Irvine's shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze and rubbing his thumb against the duster.

/I'm sorry./

And he was sorry. For a lot more than Irvine would ever know right then.

 

Chapter, The Ninth: In Which Irvine is Held. Twice.
​

Irvine lifted his eyes to the helmet and wished so badly the guy would just take it off. To his mortification, tears came to his eyes and he had to look away, embarrassed that the biker - Rubedo - would see him like that.

"Thanks," he said softly. "Thanks for sayin' so. I... I gotta go..."

Irvine stood, dislodging Zell's hand from his shoulder, and started to walk off. There were tears in his voice. Zell wrapped a hand around his wrist and shook his head.

"I have to," Irvine said, not looking at him. "I don't want you to... I don't want to cry in front of you."

I don't care. He wrote it, but Irvine wouldn't look.

"Please... Let go..."

Rubedo's fingers were like five iron bands around his wrist and, tug as he might, Irvine couldn't get free. A tear slid down his cheek and he grit his teeth in an effort to keep them back.

/Sit down... please./

He lifted the pad in front of Irvine and the sharpshooter's eyes automatically flicked to it. He turned a little to look at the uplifted helmet.

"But I-I'm gonna blubber like a baby. I don't want you to see that..."

The pen tapped the sentance above the request to sit. /I don't care./

Irvine stared at him, then gingerly sat again, looking away from him. He didn't force the sharpshooter's eyes back to him, but wrote some more.

/What's wrong/

Irvine gave another bitter, mirthless laugh.

"Everythin'."

/Care to elaborate/

Zell had to muffle a laugh. If Irvine had known it was him, he'd be amazed at the fighter even using a word like that.

"I aint a SeeD, even though I know all the stuff. I'm broke. Everyone thinks I'm gay. I have a cadet chasin' my tail. I can't concentrate on my studies, so I'll never be a SeeD. My GF thinks I'm gay. I... I had to s-sell Lightnin'..."

/Lightning/

"My chocobo."

Irvine has - had - a chocobo...? Guess I shouldn't be surprised. He's a cowboy, afterall. But... I always thought that was just an image...

/Oh. Why'd you have to sell him/

"Couldn't afford to feed him anymore..."

/How long until you can be a SeeD/

"Huh? Oh... next Field Exam's in a couple months... but my marks aren't good enough... Not yet anyway... I got an A on my last test, but my average is still Ds..."

Zell frowned. He hadn't known Irvine's marks were so bad.

/But you said you know all the stuff./

"I can't concentrate..." Irvine said softly, the tears in his voice again.

/Why/

He was silent for so long, Zell thought he wasn't going to answer.

"Th... There's some guys..."

/The cadet/

"N-no... Not Rikan... You might know them... Most people know them, but then again, you didn't know me..."

/I do now. Irvine./

He smiled a little, but it was fleeting, and Zell's heart ached at the utter misery on the sharpshooter's features.

"Yeah... Anyway... their names... Zell Dincht 'n' Seifer Almasy. Know them?"

/The names are familiar./

Zell almost laughed.

"Well... they used to fight a lot... Seifer always picked on Zell before the Neo-Sorceress War... But after Seifer came back, they were friends... They are friends."

At the moment... Zell thought uneasily, but he hadn't seen Seifer since their spat the night before. He hoped Seifer wasn't too pissed.

"I don't know why they decided to pick on me, but..." Irvine trailed off and shrugged.

/They pick on you/

"Yeah... I can't g-go anywhere without one of them, or both, findin' me and makin' my life a misery... Th-they call me names 'n'... tease me about not bein' a SeeD, 'n', like, about bein' girly-lookin' and... and they're the ones who say the most that I'm... y'know... gay... They never leave me alone... I-I-I'm scared to even l-leave my room 'n'... the other mornin' Seifer e-even came to my room... 'n' I... I can't think about nothin' else... I-I..." He gave a sob. "I hate them! I hate them so much!"

Oh, Hyne, Irvine... Tears came to Zell's own eyes and he reached out, wrapping his arms around the sharpshooter's shoulders and pulling him against his chest. Irvine didn't protest. His hands fisted, one in Zell's lap and the other around a hand-full of the white shirt the fighter was wearing. I'm so sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

Irvine sobbed unrestrainedly, face burried in the crook of the biker's shoulder. It felt good to be held while he cried. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried with someone, and he realised he had needed it so badly. Rubedo was warm and his arms were comforting, a strength in them that made the sharpshooter feel as though no one could touch him while he was there. Safe. So safe. No Rikan. No Seifer. No Zell.

"Shh..." Zell hissed softly, knowing the sound would give away nothing of his voice. "Shh..." He stroked Irvine's back gently, and just let him cry. It was nice to hold him, but not so nice that it was because he was crying... And it's my fault.

He had never cried like this when Seifer had been picking on him, only gotten pissed off. But then again, there had only been one Seifer. He supposed it must be harder when there were two Seifers. Or... rather, a Seifer and a Zell. He had never even entertained the thought that they might be upsetting Irvine so much he couldn't concentrate on his classes. And it was their fault he'd had to sell the chocobo, too. He could have been a SeeD months ago, if his marks weren't so low.

"I hate them..." Irvine whispered when his sobs had faded and were only occurring every minute or so. "I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!" And his fisted hand came up from Zell's lap to thud against his chest. He gave a slight grunt and Irvine looked up at him, eyes wide and so vulnerable Zell had the most powerful urge to just pin him down and force him to enjoy himself with another man.

"S-sorry..." Irvine was saying. "I didn't mean to hit you..."

Zell shook his head a little, letting Irvine know it was alright as well as forcing himself to stop thinking that way. His mother would have a field day with this little incident if she knew. Thankfully, she'd only met Irvine once, and forgot about him, or she'd have mentioned him by now. No one looked ukier than Irvine.

"I'll always hate them," Irvine whispered fiercely, reluctant to lift his head from the warm shoulder.

Zell bit back a sigh. He hoped not.

He couldn't resist threading his fingers through the silk of Irvine's ponytail and running them down it's length, feeling the strands trail over his skin. It was so soft... He was so soft, so willing in his grief to just let himself have what he wanted. Zell wished it wouldn't end, but he knew it would. So he stroked the ponytail and waited for Irvine to calm down enough that he remembered he wasn't gay.

"Rubedo..." he said suddenly, and it took Zell almost too long to remember that was his name. He nodded a little.

"Can you take me back to Garden?"

Zell blinked. He was asking now?

He picked up the pad and gave it to Irvine to hold, so he could write on it without taking his other arm from around Irvine.

/Are you sure you want to go back now? What about Sipher and Zel/

It might have looked odd, Zell reasoned, if he spelt the names right after saying he only vaguely knew them.

Irvine looked and laughed, which lifted Zell's spirits somewhat.

"It's S-ei-fer," he wrote the name. "And Zell has two l's."

/You have pretty writing./

Zell could have smacked himself. How fucking pathetic was that? What a stupid thing to think, let alone say.

"...Er... thanks... I guess..." Irvine looked oddly at him, but he still didn't seem inclined to pull away.

/You want to go now/ Zell wrote after a long moment.

"No..." Irvine looked at the sun. "But... I've gotta have dinner before I go to bed and I don't want to be too late to bed."

Zell nodded.

/I understand. Come on, then./

Irvine moved away and got to his feet, handing the pad back when his companion had stood up as well.

"So your bike's out the front?"

Zell nodded.

They walked together in a silence that was in no way uncomfortable, and Zell watched Irvine from the protection of the helmet. The sharpshooter had no idea how closely he was being watched. He really was gorgeous. "Pretty" didn't cut it. He had the single most kissable mouth Zell thought he'd ever seen. He seemed to have a perpetual almost-pout, lower lip just a little further out than necessary. The lines of his face were elegant, almost aristocratic and Zell wondered if maybe Irvine had been from a rich family before he had to go to the orphanage. He opened his mouth and almost asked what had happened to Irvine between the orphanage and Galbadia Garden, then snapped it shut again, about ready to smack himself for a second time in the last ten minutes.

"Ay! Rubedo! We have your bike for you, oui?"

Zell grinned inside his helmet. He could always depend on those two. He nodded his thanks.

"And who is this pretty thing?" Gaston wondered, grinning.

Pierre smacked him.

"You say he is pretty, but not I? Aaah, so harsh, oui? You see what I live with, Rubedo...?"

Gaston rolled his eyes as Pierre wheeled the bike out.

Irvine stared. They were mechanics, for fuck's sake! Mechanics were never gay! Where the hell were those pink frills! His eyes widened still further when Gaston swept over to his equally-muscled lover, bent him back over an arm and kissed him. He stared, then averted his eyes, going pink.

Zell grinned. He was cute, too. The fighter pinched Irvine's hat and exchanged it for the helmet in the seat compartment, which he handed to Irvine before slinging a leg over the bike, kicking up the stand and starting the engine. Hyne, his bike was sexy. He grinned even more.

Irvine hurried to hop on the back of the bike, since Gaston's hand was inching up under Pierre's shirt and his arms wound instantly around Zell's waist.

"Let's go."

Zell smirked and lifted the front wheel, making Irvine yelp and cling even tighter as the engine revved beneath them and the bike bunny-hopped forward a couple of times on its rear wheel. The front wheel dropped again and Zell sped out of Balamb, tires squealing and Irvine giving a "yeehaw" in his ear.

His bike had never felt quite so sexy before.

- - -

Anyone who got in Seifer's way that day was extremely unfortunate. The further the day passed without any sign of one Zell Rubedo Dincht, the more pissed off the gunbladist got. In the end, he settled himself in the cafeteria, three feet of space all around him totally unoccupied by anyone else, because whenever anyone got within three feet of him, he glared at them until they were certain he was going to tear some part of their anatomy off and shove it down their throat.

Zell would have to come to the cafeteria some damn time. The fighter ate like food was going out of fashion.

But it was Irvine who entered the cafeteria first and Seifer showed his teeth in a feral smirk. He stood, the dark trench coat he was wearing falling about his ankles as he picked up Hyperion and stalked silently over to where Irvine stood in line. The two Junior Classmen standing behind the sharpshooter fled in utter terror when Hyperion came up beside them and Seifer smirked even more. Being notorious had its advantages.

His left hand curled over Irvine's shoulder and he brought Hyperion around to press flat against the cowboy's stomach, resting his chin on the other shoulder.

Irvine tensed up like the gunblade was at his throat and he shivered.

"Priscilla..." Seifer purred. "I was wondering... Seen Zell anywhere by any chance?"

"N-no..." Irvine said, the single syllable barely passing his lips.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes... p-please... Seifer... Let me go..."

"Are you sure you haven't seen Zell anywhere?"

"Yes! I-I've been in Balamb all day! I didn't see him! Please!"

Seifer frowned, golden brows drawing together over jade eyes. Irvine sounded too terrified to be lying. He'd been sure Zell must be with Irvine, carrying out his "plan". Especially if Irvine had been in Balamb.

"Where the fuck is he?" Seifer snarled.

This was what Zell walked in on, changed back into his usual garb and hair re-spiked. His first thought was how good the new jacket looked on Seifer. It was a deep burgundy colour, velvet, with the Almasy Cross in black emblazoned down its back. He'd gone with Seifer to Esthar the day he had ordered it, but he hadn't known Seifer had received delivery of it. Then he realized who Seifer held, saw the shine of tears on Irvine's cheeks, and anger flared inside of him. Anger and a possessiveness that stunned him.

"I'm here," he growled across the cafeteria.

Several people leapt beneath tables, others behind potted plants. The lunch ladies ducked behind their counters and anyone close enough to the door to manage it darted out.

"Oh, Hyne..." Irvine whimpered, eyes slipping shut. They're both here. If only Rubedo could turn up right now. Please, please, please, please...

"C'mon, Seifer... Let him go. You're scaring the shit out of him," Zell said softly, coming across the cafeteria. "I never saw him all day. He isn't lying to you."

Seifer glared at Zell for a long moment, then let Irvine go, arms moving reluctantly away from the slender figure. Since when do you take orders, Seifer? some malicious voice wondered inside of him. He looked at Irvine, then back to Zell.

"I need to talk to you," Zell murmured. "Please?"

It was a fight to leave Irvine, shivering and hugging himself against the wall, but Zell forced himself to do it as he and Seifer left the cafeteria together and went back to the fighter's room. He saw Selphie and Anasha both hurry over to Irvine, and knew they'd take care of him.

When the door slid shut behind them, he turned to Seifer, looking earnestly up at him.

"We can't do this to him anymore."

 

Chapter, The Tenth: In Which Zell Explains.​

--When the door slid shut behind them, he turned to Seifer, looking earnestly up at him.

"We can't do this to him anymore."--

"What the fuck do you mean by that!" Seifer was already screaming. He had been irritated and down right pissed for a good portion of the day, and this news, quite frankly, did not have a calming effect on him.

"Seifer, please, don't yell. We have to stop what we're doing to Irvine."

"When the fuck did you get a conscience, Dincht?" Seifer spat at him.

Zell glared at the taller man. "Do you even know what it's doing to him?"

"Do I care?" he crossed his arms over his chest.

"He's nearly failing his classes. He's afraid to leave his room. Seifer, he's nearly in tears just at the sight of us."

Seifer shrugged. "So, he's a pussy. You never did that poorly."

"I only had to put up with you. I didn't have a little mini-you to contend with as well."

Seifer grinned a little at that, and his own mental image of Zell with his hair slicked back and in much smaller Almasy attire.

"It's not funny, you shit. We're destroying his life."

"And how do you know so much?" He cocked a brow. Zell was speaking pretty seriously, so he must have had something to back it up.

Zell hesitated. His lie about not seeing Irvine today had been for the cowboy, not for Seifer, but he was fairly certain, given the blonde's mood, that he'd be upset about it too. "He told me."

"He told you? He can't even stand the sight of you, but he'll explain exactly what you make him feel? And when did this impossibility take place?"

The shorter blonde looked off at the floor to his left and mumbled a soft "today."

Seifer took a couple steps closer to him, using his old intimidation act that really didn't have the same effect on Zell that it used to. "I thought you said you hadn't seen him today?" he nearly hissed.

It still caused a slight shiver through him. "I did say that, but that was for Irvine, not you. He doesn't know it's me."

Jade eyes looked hard at Zell's turned face. He could respond to one of two things right now. He could chose to follow his curiosity, and question how Irvine didn't know it was Zell, or he could follow the growing anger, and uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. In fact, he didn't even need a choice.

"You blew me off for Irvine, AGAIN!"

Zell cringed at the sheer volume but refrained from covering his ears. "I didn't blow you off…"

"You damn well did! I've been looking for you all fucking day!"

"Well how was I suppose to know that?" Zell shot back, turning to fully face Seifer. "I went to Ma's last night, after-"

"After you decided to start playing hero."

Zell closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "After that. I was there until I saw Irvine, and now I'm back. And as soon as I was back, I found you terrifying him again."

"What the hell, Dincht? You never had a problem with it before."

"I never knew what it was doing to him. I always thought he felt like I had. But he hates us. He really hates us." The emotion could easily be heard in Zell's voice, and that feeling in Seifer's stomach was growing along with it.

He looked away from Zell. "Didn't you hate me then? When I did it to you?"

"Seif…" He bit his lip as he thought about it for a second. "I think I probably did." Seifer looked hurt at that, but he covered it up quickly. "But not that much. I told people I hated you. I told you I hated you. But I think those were just words. I never really meant them. You're my best friend, Seifer. How could you be that if I hated you?"

"So, you're blowing off your best friend ((I fucking wish he were giggles)) for some flirty, doesn't even realize the truth, cowboy." Seifer walked away from Zell and dropped heavily onto the bed. For once Zell wasn't getting it first.

"Seifer…" Zell followed him, kneeling on the floor and folding his hands over the scarred blonde's lap. "Why are you being like this? Why do you care so much that I'm not always with you?"

"Because you have been since I came back… We've been practically joined at the hip. Most people don't even bother looking for just one of us anymore. It's always 'Have you seen Seifer and Zell?', 'Do you know where Seifer and Zell went?'"

"Hey," Zell said softly, punching the other blonde in the side with the same force as his voice. "Why does your name get to be first all the time?"

"Dunno," Seifer said, smiling faintly. "Maybe they subconsciously go by height." His smile grew into a little smirk. "Come on, get off the floor." Seifer gave a little pull.

Zell got to his feet and sat next to Seifer, wrapping and arm around his waist.

Seifer's arm came up around Zell's shoulders and he dropped his head on top of the tattooed blonde's. "Zell?"

"Mhmm?"

"I don't think I'd mind so much, if you told me you were off doing something. I wasted my whole day looking for you, when I could have done something productive, like harass some cadets."

Zell leaned away from Seifer only to fall back against him, his most lazy form of "punching" someone.

"Besides, then I won't feel like you're ditching me."

"You're such a baby."

- - -

"Are you alright?" Anasha asked as she and Selphie led Irvine back to the table they had been sitting at.

Irvine's arms were still wrapped around himself tightly. He was berating himself for begging whoever would listen to send a man he barely even knew to his rescue, still having no clue that he had in fact rescued him.

"Are you alright?" Anasha tried again when Irvine didn't answer her.

"He hasn't used his gunblade in a while…" Irvine whispered quietly.

Selphie's hands rubbed slow circles on his back, thinking to herself about what had happened. After all the episodes that involved the two blondes and Irvine, she couldn't recall one where either of the two had so flatly told the other to back off.

She came out of La La Land in time to see a worried looking Rikan heading there way, and glared dangerously enough to make him decided now would be a good time to leave. Selphie knew damn well that Irvine wouldn't want to deal with his almost-stalker right now.

"Why doesn't anyone stop them?" Anasha asked no one in particular.

Selphie chose to answer. "They think someone else is gonna. Every thinks it should be stopped but they don't do anything cause 'someone else will', except everyone is thinking the same thing, so no one does it."

"That's so stupid, though!"

"We didn't do anything either, Anasha," Selphie pointed out, causing the redheaded girl to look down.

When the three of them got back to their table, they got Irvine some food and a drink of cold water to calm him down. It didn't take him too long to recover, but it was still worrisome.

- - -

"So, how does he not know he's meeting you?" Seifer asked, tilting his head to the side to look at Zell.

"Who?" the other blonde asked, turning his head the other way.

At some point after their little make up talk the two had laid down to rest and chat. Being angry and screaming at people was actually pretty tiring.

"Irvine, you stupid chicken."

"Oh, He- hey!" Zell half rolled over and hit him.

"Took you long enough. Now tell me, and maybe I'll really think about leaving Irvine alone."

Zell pouted, making his little baby-face look down right adorable. "You already promised."

"I was lying, now tell me."

Zell huffed. "He thinks I'm someone else."

"He may be in the closet, but he's not blind. How can he miss that hair and tattoo? Not to mention your eyes and those mini-fangs of yours." Seifer pressed the pad of his thumb against one of them since Zell's mouth was half open as if he kept wanting to talk but wasn't being given the chance.

"Get your fingers outta my mouth!" Zell pushed Seifer's hand away. "And I'll show you." He rolled onto his stomach and swung a leg over Seifer, then the other and hopped off his bed. He walked over to his door and lifted his helmet off the hook, putting it on. He turned to Seifer and closed the visor.

Seifer cocked a brow. "You wear your helmet the whole time? Okay, idiot, that explains why he doesn't see it's you. But what about your voice?"

"I don't talk to him," Zell said like Seifer's question was stupid.

The other brow raised to join the first. "Must be productive."

Zell's hands lifted to remove the helmet and put it back on its peg before coming back over to the bed and crawling back over Seifer. "It's surprising how much you can say without words. The first two times I just gave him rides back to Balamb. Today I had a notepad and I wrote while he talked."

"You know, other than the walking around in your helmet the whole time that sounds like a decent plan. So, got anything out of him yet?"

"Verbally, not really, other than all the reasons why you are going to lay off him." Seifer rolled his eyes. "But during that he was pretty touchy."

"Oh really? How?"

"Like this," Zell said, shifting closer to Seifer and curling his fingers in the blonde's shirt, pressing his face against his shoulder.

Seifer looked down at him. "What is with you and showing people everything rather than just saying it?"

Zell lifted his face to look back up at Seifer. "It's easier to show. Then you know just what happened, except we were sitting and his hand was in my lap."

"You didn't put your hand in my lap."

"Well that would be a rather awkward position don't you think?" Seifer thought he meant because they were friends, but when Zell finished his thought, he realized exactly who he was talking to. "I mean really. I'd be lying on it and then I'd have to bend it all funny and cock my wrist to the side to even get it in your lap vicinity."

Seifer shook his head. "You're such an idiot, Zell."

"Oh, and Seifer? It might be a better idea to ease off the teasing. More like we're getting bored with him instead of just stopping. Like, keep up those looks and the names for a bit. Just ease off, ya know?"

"Yea, I know." He'd make a comment about Zell sounding like Raijin, but after hearing that way of speaking for years, he'd gotten so use to it he didn't even notice. "So, are you going to keep me entertained if Irvine's off limits?"

"Depends. What do you have in mind?"

 

Chapter, The Eleventh: In Which Selphie Figures Something Out.​

Seifer went into a detailed explanation of various sexual romps involving chains, whips, cream and various other toys, each of which was more outrageous than the last until the end result was that they were both in tears from laughing.

After that, it seemed as though everything was alright between them again, though Seifer still felt a gnawing sensation in his stomach every so often that he didn't understand.

They talked quietly, Zell detailing the actions and events of "Rubedo"s encounters with Irvine. Seifer had to grudgingly admit it seemed to be working better than his own ideas.

He made Zell swear to tell him next time he went on one of his forays.

All seemed well in the world of the Blonde Brigade.

- - -

All was not so in Irvine Kinneas' world.

Three days after the incident in the Cafeteria, it occured to The Cadets they had not seen Irvine in a single class since that day. The lot of them trouped down to Irvine's room and knocked. When there was no answer, they looked at one another in great confusion and worry. Where was he?

Harada flipped out her cell phone and dialled Irvine's number. She wasn't surprised when it kicked over to the answering machine.

"Irvy? Irvine, let us in. We're worried about you. We know you're there. You haven't been in class the last three days! Let us in, Irvine. C'mon... Please? Irvine? Irvine!"

The phone lifted and was dropped back in the cradle, hanging up on her.

"Irvine!" Illo shouted through the door. "You can't hide away forever! You've got to eat!"

Silence.

"Come on, Irvy," Anasha called. "We just want to take you out for something to eat. We'll be there. You don't have to worry about Seifer and Zell.

"Yes I do!" His voice was a choked, broken thing, utterly terrified. "I always do!"

They exchanged looks and Illo darted off. Terry took a turn banging on the door.

"Why don't you tell someone!"

Silence.

"Please," Harada said, almost in tears. "Please, come out."

"No."

"Can't we just go and kill Seifer and Zell? That'd solve the problem," Hiro muttered.

"Oh, yeah, right. Like we could," Terry muttered back.

"Like I'd let'cha!" piped Selphie's voice. Illo had returned with her.

"Selphie!" Anasha cried. "Oh, thank goodness. He sounds terrible!"

Selphie nodded a little.

"Okay, guys, leave this to me. Go on. Off you go. I mean it! Scram!"

They went with varying degrees of reluctance, Rikan the most reluctant of them all. He kept moving to say something to Selphie, but she would "Shhp!" him every time. When she gave him a bodily shove, proving to him she was stronger than she looked, and threatened to go and get her nunchaku, he finally left.

"Irvy...?" she called softly through the door.

"Go away, Selphie," he said blankly, voice just a whole lot of nothingness. "I don't want to talk to anyone. I'm never comin' out."

He was sitting with his back against the door, she guessed, so she crouched, a hand flat to the cool metal, and pressed the side of her face to the area where his head must roughly be.

"What about classes?"

"Don't matter."

"And your friends?"

"They won't miss me for long."

"Food?"

"Ain't hungry."

"Irvine, you're being an idiot."

He was silent, but she heard him shift a little.

"You can't stay locked up in there forever. For one thing, you'll die of starvation."

"I'd probably get up the guts to put Exeter in my mouth before that..." he said with a calm detachment that scared the hell out of her.

"Irvine!" she cried, slapping the door. "Don't say shit like that! Let me in, dammit!"

"Naw... I ain't dressed for visitors."

"Like I care. I've seen you naked!"

He snorted.

"Well I have!" She paused. "Gee, I never realized what we had and did back then meant so little to you. I thought it had ended with us as pretty good friends, since we realized we just didn't have that fire a couple needs. I thought I meant as much to you as you mean to me. I mean, you're like my brother, Irvine. Guess I went a bit far assuming I'm like a sister to you. I'll just go and leave you to wallow in self-pity, then."

She started to move.

"Selph..."

A grin flashed across her features. He was so damn easy to play.

"What?" she huffed.

"Don't go..."

"I'm not bloody well sitting outside this door for the rest of my life!"

There was a soft ping and the door slid open. It was dark inside, sunlight showing only through a couple of small holes in the blinds. She could see the curve of pale skin in the light from the open doorway, then it slipped shut again, and she could see virtually nothing.

"Damn, Irvy! It's as dark as the Black Hole of Calcutta in here!" (1)

"So?"

She rolled her eyes and went to pull open the blinds, displaying the state Irvine was in. He sat on the bed now, in only a pair of silk boxers, and his hair was pulled back into a braid that looked like it hadn't been re-done in the three days he'd been hiding away. Tufts and tangles stuck out all over it. The bed itself wasn't made, the covers and sheets in a messy tangle. She went to sit by him, and her nose wrinkled.

"Hyne, Irvine! When did you shower last!"

He shrugged.

"This is pathetic," she informed him without preamble. "Don't you get it? This means they've won. You won't be a SeeD, and you'll be kicked out of Garden when you turn 20! Then where would you go!"

He shrugged again.

"Will you get over it!"

He looked sharply at her, blue eyes surprised.

"No, I'm not going to molly-coddle you! You're this close to being an adult, Irvine, not a kid, and, let's face it, we all had to grow up when we fought Ultimecia. You're going backward! Listen, we'll go talk to Squall, okay? He'll make them back off."

"No," Irvine said flatly, auburn brows drawing together. "Everyone'll think I'm weak."

"Right, 'cause hiding in your room like a three-year-old is so strong," she said sarcastically.

He looked away, flushing, then grated out.

"It's easy for you to say. It ain't you they're houndin'."

"No... I know. You're right. But, Irvine, you can't let them get to you this much. They're cruel bastards, I know, but you have to fight this."

He was silent a moment, then said suddenly; "Selph, d'you know anyone in Garden who rides a motorbike?"

Selphie blinked. That was abrupt.

"Er... a few... why?"

He frowned, standing and walking through the bathroom. The shower came on and she smiled a little.

"I met this weird guy..." his voice floated back after a little time.

"Weird guy?"

"Yeah... He won't show me his face. He keeps his motorbike helmet on all the time... He's given me a ride back to Garden a few times. He won't talk either, but the day... when... when Seifer bailed me up in the caf, we'd talked... Or... I talked. He wrote on a pad."

Selphie made a strange face. Irvine had a creepy stalker... But he didn't seem worried about it...

"That seems kinda... strange, Irvy."

"Yeah, I know... but he's real nice. He's a SeeD."

"A SeeD? And he rides a motorbike?" She paused. "What kind?"

"Umm... a Sleipner, I think..."

Selphie blinked. She only knew one SeeD who rode a bike that good.

"Did he tell you his name...?" she wondered slowly.

"Yeah. Rubedo."

That was too much coincidence to be coincidence. She only knew one SeeD who rode a bike that good and his middle name was Rubedo. How the hell did Irvine not know that middle name? She did. She supposed it was because Zell and Irvine hadn't really had a chance to say boo to one another when they were fighting Ultimecia and since then, all they had done was hate each other. Supposedly.

"Are you sure?" she called.

"Yeah. He wrote it down."

Selphie frowned, debating whether or not to tell Irvine what she knew. She decided against it. It didn't seem as though whatever the hell Zell was doing was upsetting him. On the contrary, he sounded happier talking about... Rubedo. Buuut, maybe she would have to have a word with the blonde martial artist.

"I don't know him," she said.

"Hmm... I wish I knew what he looked like."

The water switched off and after a few moments of drying Irvine came back with a towel slung around his slim hips. He hunted out a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt that barely touched the waist-band of the jeans when he put them on. No wonder Seifer and Zell insisted Irvine was gay, Selphie thought ruefully. He really looked it in that outfit. Especially when he perched his hat on his pony-tailed, wet hair. Even the action of lifting his arm that far showed a sliver of stomach.

"I got class," he said, smiling hesitantly at her.

"Good for you!" she replied, hugging him tight. "But... change your bed when you get back, yeah? It smells kinda funky."

He laughed a little and shook his head, then asked; "Can you spare the time to walk on over to class with me?"

"'Course I can! And after class, we'll have dinner together, yeah? Seems like for-ev-er since I last spent any time with you!"

"Okay, that sounds fun. Only... I... can't afford to shout you..." he sighed.

"'Sokay! I'll shout you! You can pay me back when you're a SeeD."

"If," he corrected as they left his room.

"When," she said again, smiling gently up at him.

In that moment, he loved her so much it made his throat tighten.

- - -

Hyne, Instructor Aki could ramble... Irvine thought dazedly to himself as he kept his head from lowering to his computer only by sheer force of will. Of course, it didn't help that he'd forgotten more about the capabilities of Guardian Force than the Instructor would ever know.

Leviathan kept up a running commentary on every incorrect fact Aki stated until Irvine was in a state of constant almost-laughter that would get him in trouble if he let it go, because he knew he wouldn't stop laughing.

"In conclusion..." Aki said and Irvine wasn't the only one who breathed a sigh of relief as they started to pack away books and pens while the Instructor summarized his lesson over for them.

"Before you all go," Aki called over the shifting and slap-shut of text books. "I have a notice for you all."

They all settled back into silence.

"It has come to the attention of several of your weapons masters of a deficiency in nearly all of you. You fight with amazing skill - until you lose your weapon, at which time you either freeze up or find yourself overwhelmed in a very short time. With this in mind, it is expected that all of you will undertake a three-week hand-to-hand course."

There was a murmur through the class, then Harada piped up.

"Which Instructor is going to teach us for that?"

"None! I am!"

Irvine's stomach dropped into the vicinity of his black cowboy boots and his eyes went round as saucers as the man to whom the voice belonged stepped in the doorway.

"Instructor Dincht at your service!" He grinned, sapphire eyes alight. "Well, actually, I'm not an Instructor, I don't have a license. I'm just the single best hand-to-hand fighter in Garden. So, you can call me Zell."

Instructor Aki rolled his eyes a little.

"These classes will run Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons from sixteen hundred until eighteen hundred hours," Aki said. "Attendance is mandatory. Mr. Dincht will be taking a roll at the beginning of every class. Dismissed."

The class went into a buzz of excited conversation, and The Cadets closed ranks around Irvine and glared at Zell as the sharpshooter dropped his head on the desk several times.

Could his life get any worse!

 

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.

 

Chapter, The Thirteenth: In Which Rikan Is Warned. Again.
​

Rikan couldn't contain himself any longer. He saw how Irvine was watching that idiot in the motorcycle helmet, knew the look for what it was, even if the sharpshooter wasn't aware of it himself. He glared at Rubedo, as he'd been introduced, and then looked back to Irvine.

Anasha, the late arrival Selphie, and Harada had placed themselves carefully between himself and Irvine, but they were all so wrapped up in applauding the idiot-biker-man (who the fuck wore a helmet to sing anyway?) that they didn't notice Rikan slip out of his chair and move behind them. He may have been under the influence of quite a bit too much alcohol, since what he did was rash, stupid and altogether a bad idea.

He reached down, cupped Irvine's cheek, turned his face, and bent to kiss him.

Irvine yelped slightly just before Rikan's mouth made contact, but that only resulted in there being no barrier to the cadet's tongue. It delved within and the sharpshooter's eyes screwed shut, hands coming up to fist in Rikan's shirt.

"Hey!" Selphie cried, making a grab for Rikan's wrist but missing, because she was more-than-slightly inebriated as well.

Anasha toppled off her chair as Selphie crashed into her in the process of the lunge and Harada grabbed the back of the SeeD's yellow dress to keep her from falling atop the other girl.

Irvine pushed, but Rikan's hand went to the back of his head, holding him where he was, and another sound issued from the sharpshooter's mouth. He'd been so happy. All thought of Zell's class, of Rikan, of Seifer, of everything that was wrong with his life had vanished at the sound of Rubedo's voice, but it all came crashing back as he struggled to get away.

"Rikan!" Illo cried. "Rikan, let him go!"

Rikan ignored him.

"You're terrifying him!" Terry added, just about climbing over the table to try and separate them.

Rikan ignored him.

"He's gonna cry!" Hiro hissed. "For Hyne's sake, let him-"

A hand fisted in the back of Rikan's shirt, dragging him bodily away from the sharpshooter. A second went around his throat, turning him to face the visor of a motorbike helmet.

"-go..."

"If you ever touch him like that again, I'll kill you. Got it? You won't see me coming. You won't know I'm there. And I'll kill you. You keep your hands off him." There was a pause. "Unless he asks." He had to add that. It was still Irvine's choice. But no one - no one - should be allowed to force anything on him.

Rikan swallowed, throat moving against the five iron bands wrapped around his neck. The voice was nothing but a low hiss through clenched teeth, totally removed from the singing. He opened his mouth, but he had no breath to speak.

The hiss came again.

"Are. We. Clear?"

He swallowed again, still couldn't speak, his heart beating a terrified tattoo against his ribcage. He nodded.

Rubedo tossed him aside as though he weighed no more than a feather, and as though he was worth even less. The man went to his knees beside Irvine, who was shaking, long-fingered hands covering his face.

I think I might kill Rikan anyway... Zell thought idly, lifting a hand to touch the back of one of Irvine's.

The sharpshooter flinched, and a whispered; "No..." passed his hands.

Irvine...

Zell's mouth shaped the name, and in that moment, he wished so much he could say it. He wanted to tell Irvine it would be alright, that he would protect him. He wanted to say he would never force anything, but that it was time Irvine let himself be free. But he could say none of that. And Irvine wouldn't look at him.

He dragged the notepad out his vest pocket and scribbled a quick /It's me/ then slid the pad gently along Irvine's leg, until the sharpshooter could peek at it without moving his hands. They lowered, then, and an utterly confused, lost, scared face looked down at Zell.

Oh, Irvine... You don't know what you want anymore. It felt good, didn't it? Frightening, but good. I know. I know. It's hard to admit you're different.

Irvine suddenly flung himself out of the chair to the floor, burrowing insistently against Zell until he wrapped his arms around the shivering shoulders.

"Shh..." he whispered again, and Irvine shushed. He stopped shaking, and his breathing slowed to a normal pace.

Selphie watched in silence, wondering how the hell this could ever come out well. When Irvine found out - and he would find out - everything would shatter again, and she had a horrible feeling it would only be worse than before. Unless Zell kept the helmet on forever. She suddenly broke into a fit of hysterical giggles at that thought, mental pictures popping into her head of Irvine and helmet-Zell shopping together, eating together, laughing together, sleeping together. Oh, Hyne! The very idea of sex with a helmeted partner nearly killed her laughing.

Anasha dragged herself up from the floor, rubbing her poor behind.

"I don't even drink and I manage to fall over..." she muttered, then stared at Selphie.

Selphie could only laugh harder.

"Take me home," Irvine whispered, and Zell nodded.

He stood, taking Irvine with him, and glanced at Selphie who, still laughing, nodded.

/That woman's crazy/ he wrote to Irvine, who managed a watery laugh and shook his head a little.

"She's my sister," he said as they walked out.

/Your sister? You don't look anything like her./

"Not my real sister... Near enough to. We were in an orphanage together."

I know. I was there.

/You're an orphan/

"Yeah..."

Zell knew better than to push that subject after the tone that reply had been in. Hyne, did he know. He was just glad he'd got Ma.

They continued on in silence to the bike, and Irvine flipped open the seat compartment to put his hat there and retrieve the helmet before Zell even reached the bike. If the sharpshooter had much to drink, Rikan's little advance had sobered him up instantly. He wasn't at all affected anymore.

He paused with the helmet in his hands, eyes going far-away as his fingers shifted over the smooth surface.

"Hey..."

Zell cocked his head, coming up beside Irvine.

"...Nothin'..."

/Sure./

"Nevermind. C'mon. Let's go."

Zell didn't push it. They needed to get home. They both had class tomorrow. That felt weird. Even if he was teaching it was still strange to be having classes again. He also had to look after Seifer tomorrow and, knowing the gunbladist, he would make it as difficult as possible just to be annoying.

Even though he wasn't sick.

Zell flung a leg over the bike and settled down, kicking the stand up and waiting for Irvine to hop on behind him. Arms wound securely around his waist and Irvine pressed against his back, holding tight. He didn't do anything fancy this time, just drove off out of Balamb through the starlit night.

The grass swayed gently in a warm breeze and Irvine watched it quietly as they sped past, not quite so fast as they had previously. He appreciated that. The quiet was nice, and so was Rubedo's secure warmth against his front. He could feel the material of the biker's vest against his tummy where his shirt had ridden up a little and he had the fleeting thought of how it might feel if the shirt was entirely gone. That graduated into imagining the fingers wrapped around the handlebars playing instead with his piercings and Irvine blushed hotly, closing his eyes.

He spent the rest of the ride forcing himself to not think about things like that, and Rubedo had to reach back and lightly tap his face to make him realize they'd reached Garden. He started and hopped quickly off the bike, blushing again, and glad the biker couldn't see it. When his face had cooled again, though Rubedo was looking oddly at him by then for standing there with the helmet on, he finally removed it and handed it back in exchange for his hat.

"Listen... Rubedo... I..."

Zell cocked his head, stomach turning over, but then Irvine sighed and looked away.

"Nothin'... Anyway, thanks... thanks for everythin'. For the other day at Balamb and tonight... And... And you're a great singer."

/Thanks/ he wrote, then; /I bet you are, too./

Irvine went pink, eyes turning up to the visor again. He was silent a long moment, then his words rushed out of him in a tumble.

"Please can I see your face? Please? I... I want to know who you are!"

Zell lifted his hands back to the handlebars, shaking his head. He had to go, now, before he gave in. He revved the bike.

"Please," Irvine whispered, looking close to tears again. "I want to know you if I see you in Garden. I might pass you ten times every day in the corridor and I wouldn't even know!"

Zell shook his head again, shifting on the bike and looking away.

"Please..."

Zell grit his teeth, tears pooling in his eyes, and sped off.

Irvine lowered his eyes, sighing. He wondered, as he trudged back to his room, if he would ever, in fact, learn who was under the helmet. Maybe Rubedo intended to keep it on incase he tired of seeing Irvine around and he wanted to escape. Maybe he just wanted to play with Irvine.

Maybe... Maybe...

Whatever it was, it didn't matter. Irvine still wanted to see him, and be friends with him, even if their entire friendship was based on written words and a song. He couldn't find it in him to be upset or worried about any of it. Rubedo was safe, nice. He honestly didn't think the man would ever hurt him.

He tiredly put the code into his room, feeling flat and exhausted now, and stepped inside, locking the door behind him and padding across to his bed, dropping pieces of clothing as he went and dropping onto the comfy mattress in his boxers with a huff.

His clock flashed at him.

2311.

If he squinted, the lit numbers were taunting him in glowing glee. 2311. ZELL. Fucker clock. He turned it away and buried his face in the pillows. He was dreading tomorrow's class.

But Rubedo was singing in his memories, so that made it better.

- - -

Seifer had dozed off on the couch in front of a program selling plush chocobos, dogs and cartoonified GF. Ifrit snarled and made a dirty comment about whomever had come up with the idea that he could ever be cute. It had got boring pretty fast.

He stirred awake when the door chimed softly and Zell entered, tearing his helmet off and throwing it aside. There were tears streaming down his face and he looked around as though he didn't know what to do with himself. Seifer ached.

"...Zell...?" he said softly.

"Seifer!" Zell whispered, choked, and fled to arms held readily open for him.

Zell was strong, stronger than Seifer had ever given him credit for way back when. But he was also very easily affected emotionally. Seifer guessed his emotions were as strong as the rest of him.

It seemed as though he just needed a good cry, because once he'd cried himself to hiccups against Seifer's shoulder, he calmed down fairly quickly. He refused to tell Seifer what had upset him so badly, but he told the details of the incident at the bar.

"Well, I don't think Rikan will be going close to him anytime soon," Seifer said, smirking.

"No," Zell agreed, smiling a little. "Hyne, I'm tired..."

"Go to sleep, then."

Seifer stroked his fingers through chocobo-gold locks and Zell was soon breathing steadily against his neck. He smiled, and wasn't far behind.

 

Chapter, the Fourteenth: In Which Zell Washes "Delicates".​

Zell woke to find himself in bed, in his PJ pants and half sprawled over Seifer. He yawned and placed his hand on the mattress, lifting himself up and off the taller blonde.

Seifer's face screwed up as if he were disappointed and reached out to grab Zell and pull him back, eyes still shut.

The tattooed boy snorted and poked at Seifer until he woke up. "Hey, leggo of me."

Jade eyes slowly blinked open at him, seeming to wonder why Zell was on top of him, but quickly cleared of their confusion, and took the opportunity to invoke his special care for the day. "I'm sick, I need a hot water bottle." He snuggled Zell who squirmed.

"Seifer, I'm not a water bottle, I'm a human being."

"Mmm," he rested his head against Zell's neck. "Warm, soft, works for me."

Zell sighed and quit his struggling, even if he could easily break free of the grasp. "I take it you'll eventually let go so I can go bring you breakfast in bed, right?"

"In the frilly apron," Seifer added smirking.

"You're a twisted kink, Seifer."

"It's not like I'm going to bend you over the kitchen counter and have my wicked way with you." He chuckled and soon Zell did too.

Zell pressed his palm to Seifer's bare chest. "Remember, you only have me until 3:30, then I'm off, so you better use your time wisely."

Seifer smirked and rolled onto his side, pulling Zell close. "I'm sleepy, and you're warm. This is time used wisely."

The shorter blonde chuckled and patted Seifer's back. "Whatever you say, you big baby."

"Hey, Seif? When you let me up, what do you want for breakfast?"

Seifer 'hmmm'ed against Zell's neck, contemplating what the best breakfast would be. Something big, and hard to balance on a tray, so Zell would have a time bringing it back. Oh, yes, that would be good.

Zell chuckled and tried to push Seifer away gently. "That tickles, Seif, now tell me what you want."

"Big stack of pancakes, with banana slices, and a little dish of syrup because I don't trust you to pour the right amount on, and an apple and a tall glass of milk, no orange juice- actually… You better get one of each, cause I just can't decide."

Zell cocked a brow at the still snuggling blond before worming his way out of the arms around him. "Well, I better go get that before they run out, don't you think?"

Seifer pouted, but Zell was already free and he might as well hurry back with breakfast. "Yea, shoo, and hurry back, I'm hungry."

Zell rolled his eyes and went on a search for some clothes before departing for the caf.

- - -

When Zell got back, amazingly without spilling anything, Seifer pulled him back onto the bed and they both ate the breakfast together. Seifer ended up with the juice, and Zell with the milk.

"You know, I had to buy the banana and pancakes separately and then slice it up myself," Zell pointed out after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes.

"Aww, such a good little wife."

"I ain't your wife, Almasy."

"But don't you think Zell Almasy sounds kinda sexy?" Seifer asked, smirking at Zell in his overconfident way.

Zell just shook his head, then stuffed the apple into Seifer's mouth.

All in all, breakfast was delicious and filling and Seifer had to let Zell take a shower while he thought of what else he could make his slave for the day do.

When Zell walked back out, Seifer was grinning from ear to ear.

"Uh oh…" the tattooed blonde wearily eyed his friend. "What did you think up?"

"You're going to do my laundry."

"Ew! Seifer. I don't wanna wash your smelly socks and shit."

"Well, you said you'd do anything for me today, because I'm sick."

"But you aren't sick," Zell groaned. Seifer just grinned.

Of course, Zell could not escape his duty as best friend and care giver when that best friend was ill, even if he was faking, because he had promised. "Fine. Let's sort this stuff."

Zell made his way over to the full, nearly over flowing hamper and dumped it out onto the floor, starting to sort it into whites, darks, and red/oranges.

"Oh, Zell," Seifer piped up, his voice a little too filled with mirth for Zell's liking. "I want the "delicates" done by hand, please." A tattooed cheek came into view as Zell turned his head, followed by piercing blue eyes that just dared him to say he was serious. "You can use my bathroom for those if you want." He just smirked wider.

Zell narrowed his eyes before tossing Seifer's clothes, save for the "delicates" in a duffel and heading out to the Garden laundry facilities. He didn't have that much time, and the jackarse was really tugging for all he had.

After putting the three loads into separate machines, not even being evil and putting something red in with Seifer's whites, and turning them on he headed back to Seifer's room for the manual labour.

He didn't have to worry about the clothes. After several mishaps in the laundry room, cameras were put up to watch the whole area and no one even dared to try anything funny. It was better watched than the room that stored the explosives, for Hyne's sake.

When Zell got back to the room, he heard the bathtub running. Apparently Seifer had been a real doll and decided to get his work zone ready for him.

There was an empty packet of Tsunami, one of the sample ones they send out in the mail, on the floor. So, Zell was right in assuming Seifer didn't hand wash his underwear on a regular basis, so, like, ever.

The detergent bubbles were sudsing in the tub and the little pile of assorted undergarments lay on the floor next to the empty packet.

Seifer got to his feet and smirked, walking past a grumbling Zell who set right to work, to get this over and done with.

Some time, just over half an hour, later Zell came strolling out of the room, one hand on his hip, the other spinning something dark green around on his finger. "Seifer," he called lightly to the blonde that was reading a magazine on the couch.

Said blonde looked over the back of the sofa, eyes shifting from the tattooed face to the spinning thing on his finger.

"Seifer, what is this?" He stopped spinning, grabbing the other side of the washed, rung out and now just damp garment.

Jade eyes went a little wider than before. "That's nothing."

"Reeeally?" Zell said, walking closer to the couch. "Cause to me, it looks like a-"

"Don't even go there."

"Look like a-"

"Zell!"

"A THONG!" As soon as the words left his mouth Seifer had grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him over the back and onto the couch. "Am I wrong?" Zell asked, blinking, mere centimeters away from Seifer's face.

"It's not mine," Seifer said, voice as cool, and deadly confident as ever he could make it.

"That's why they're the same color as your eyes and have S.A. on the little tag, right?" Zell's eyes lit up and he jumped off the couch, followed by Seifer, and a chase around the room began.

- - -

Zell dashed from Seifer's room and off towards Instructor Aki's class. He could make it, if just barely. Being chased, caught, wrestled with, and then having to go move the laundry into the driers, and then having to do even more crap for Seifer, which was followed by retrieving, folding and putting away the clothes had cut his time rather short.

Fucker, Seifer…

Irvine was getting the tiniest sliver of hope. Maybe Zell forgot. It was a minute to class, and Zell wasn't usually late for things. Not that he'd seen. He'd heard about a mission and a hover board, which didn't seem to go well for him, but other than that-

Oh fuck. Smite me now, oh mighty Hyne.

Zell Dincht literally skidded into the room with five seconds to spare before class began. He walked over to the instructor's desk and stood next to it.

Instructor Aki looked at him slightly disapprovingly, then turned to address the class. "Although unofficial, Zell Dincht will take full responsibility as your instructor from 1600-1800 hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He will grade you, he will teach you and he has the right to discipline you in any way he sees fit, as long as he follows protocol."

Zell saluted to the instructor, but that last sentence scared the shit out of Irvine.

"I am not to be questioned, contacted, or bothered about anything that occurs in these classes unless it is a very, very serious matter. Well, I'll see you all at our next regularly scheduled class."

With that said, Aki was out of the room and Zell moved to lean against the front of the desk. "Hello, class. I know it may be odd to have me teaching you. I'm probably the same age as some of you, and if you're really unlucky, I may even be younger. Fact is, I know my shit when it comes to hand-to-hand, and you're going to learn it."

He hopped up onto the desk. "First thing's first, course outlay, no written assignments, no quizzes, no tests." The class erupted in cheers.

Zell smiled. "You will be marked on increase in ability and a final demonstration. I will not mark you against my skill, or against that of your peers. You will be marked on how much your ability and skill increases over the next three weeks."

Everyone seemed to be pretty happy with that as well.

"Classes will be held in Training Room A. Do not get this confused with the Training Center. I will take you all to the Training Center every Wednesday, for the last hour of class. TRA has been booked by me, so during our sessions, no one, except our class will be allowed in there. If a very strong looking male happens to be standing to the side, he is the unlucky soul I blackmailed or threatened into being my demonstration partner."

A few snickers and quiet comments shifted through the room.

One rather stupid straight cadet whispered a little too loudly, "considering his tastes, what would he and his partner be demonstrating?"

Zell glanced at Instructor Aki's seating plan and then back to the class. "Ricky," he said. He actually knew the cadet, but not on good terms. Worse for the cadet though. "You have a cute butt and I'm stronger than you. Wanna go there?" He cocked his head to the side and a whole flock of girls began to giggle madly.

Irvine cringed and crumbled. But, he was slightly thankful it was Ric and not him.

"Alright, now that I've scared him mute, I'll continue." Another round of chuckles and snickers. "Today you will all be choosing a partner for the remainder of the classes." He paused a moment, just to make his next statement really set in. "And no, not your best friend, so stop looking at them. Listen up, and do what I tell you to when I tell you to. Stand up."

The class got to their feet, Irvine and several others a bit slower to than most. "Girls to the right, boys to the left." They did this too. "Now, find a partner who has the same strength and similar body build to you. And don't try to fuck with me, because I've already looked over your last physicals and I know what weapons you use. I'll make any changes I deem necessary."

Zell leaned back on the desk and gave the students about fifteen minutes. They didn't look too bad, and he knew that some friends would still be able to pair up, and besides they were all still in the same class.

The Cadets had paired off alright. It was obvious Rikan had tried to get with Irvine, despite that fact that his muscle mass looked equal to Zell's. Illo had dragged him away. Terry and Hiro, and Anasha and Harada. Irvine looked miserable. He was keeping to himself.

Ric the Idiot- er, uh, student- no, just idiot, had found another macho jackass to pair with and were comparing biceps at the moment. Sometimes Zell wondered why he liked men, then remember the gay ones weren't usually moronic.

"Alright, line up in front of me with your partners, please." Zell hopped off the desk as they did this.

"You, and you, switch," he said, indicating two people. "And you two, and you two ladies. Good." He looked up and down the line. "Does anyone not have a partner?"

Silence. Then more silence, and then a quiet, "Um, Mr. Zell-Sir? Irvine doesn't have a partner."

Seven sets of eyes stared at the petite girl like she was the soul being that could bring the apocalypse, and just had.

Zell walked along the line until he found the hiding cowboy, hat tilted down to cover his face, and trying to look small in his six foot body. He reached up and placed a hand on Irvine's shoulder. "I'll partner up with him then. He'll probably need the most work being a sharpshooter anyway." Zell tapped the brim of the cowboy hat and returned to the front of the room.

Irvine stared at his feet as he walked away.

Because I'm a sharpshooter? Not because I'm a pussy, a woman, and prima dona? What? He won't say it in front of his little class?

"Alright, if you don't know your partners, introduce yourselves." Zell waited a few moments. "Now, I have some rules for these classes. No one show up in skirts, that includes young men looking for bonus marks." Snickers. "I don't want to see any tight pants. They restrict movement no matter how nice they make your arses look. I want everyone in a pair of runners, sneakers, or freaking ballet slippers if that's all you got. No heels, no steel toed boots, and nothing heavier than your own head."

Zell counted things off on his fingers. "I want to see tight shirts though, preferably no sleeves. That means all you ladies are allowed to wear your little tank tops and spaghetti straps around school, you too men."

A series of "pft"s and "yea rights" followed by a few "maybe that's not a bad idea"s from both straight men and others.

"No hats. No baseball caps, no sun hats, no those-fifty-styles-of-hats-for-women-I-don't-know, and no cowboy hats." Well, everyone knew who that was directed at. "If you have long hair, I want it up. Irvine, come here."

Can I shoot him, please Levi?

No, Massster, he'sss your teacher. Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss.

Irvine slowly made his way to the front and Zell plucked off his hat. "Hey…."

Zell just smirked and turned Irvine to show the class a profile. "This is an acceptable style. The bangs hanging in front work in a way that will not disrupt fighting to any great degree," he commented as his finger pointed down the length of auburn hair that was forever in front of the cowboy's ears. "Ponytails are great for people with long hair. They're quick, easy and keep the hair away from the face. Thank you, Irvine."

Irvine snatched his hat and quickly went to stand behind Harada and Anasha.

"Braids also work well. If your hair is too long and will be a problem, but too short to get in a 'tail I expect you to come to class with those cheesy and silly looking inch wide head bands. You can pick the color."

"Do not bribe me with money, I make more than you all do anyway. Bribe me with hotdogs." He nodded, the class laughed. "Now! Let's go!" He waved a hand at the class, and headed toward the door. Everyone hurried to get their things and followed after him.

 

Chapter, The Fifteenth: In Which Zell is Smart!​

Irvine seriously considered remaining in the classroom while the rest walked out, but unfortunately, Zell stood at the door and watched everyone troupe out, then waved at Irvine when he realised the sharpshooter was still cowering - yes, cowering, Zell realised with a bite of guilt - in a corner.

"C'mon, Princess," he said and Irvine looked up, confusion evident on his face.

The taunt wasn't cruel, it wasn't vindictive, it wasn't nasty. Instead, it seemed kind of... affectionate? Irvine blinked and shook his head a little, then headed past Zell with his eyes down-cast.

Zell wanted to touch him, brush his hair back from his face and tell him it was going to be alright, he wasn't going to hurt him, or make a fool of him. But he couldn't. He was supposed to be easing up, not just turning totally opposite in his behaviour towards the sharpshooter.

He followed his class out of the room and locked it behind him. As he watched them, he realised he was shorter than all of them except the little girl who had dobbed Irvine in and her partner.

Damn. How embarrasing. Not that he wasn't used to being shorter than most people, but he was supposed to be the authority over these students.

They entered TRA and lapsed to excited conversation, gathering in a bunch in the middle on the soft, spongey mats specifically for this purpose. Irvine tried to hide in the middle of The Cadets, but he was a head taller than all of them, except Rikan, whom he was still a little taller than. Said red-headed Cadet put himself between Zell and Irvine and Zell gave a mental roll of his eyes as he strode around the outside of the group to the front of the room.

"Irvine," he said easily. "Come here. Everyone else, you can take a seat."

Irvine came to Zell with great trepidation while the rest of the class settled on the floor, chattering excitedly.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, don't get overexcited or anything. We probably won't be here for the full time today, and we can't really practice anything, what with skirts like that," Zell pointed to a girl with blue highlights in her waist-length hair, whose skirt was short enough to be classified no more than a "wide belt" in the fighter's mind. "And pants like that." He pointed to what Irvine would refer to as one of those "sterotypical frill-wearing fags", though he wasn't wearing frills, just a pair of pants so tight they were little more than a second skin, and so low-riding it should be illegal, plus a skimpy little shirt that left a lot of stomach showing. He even giggled when Zell pointed out his pants.

"He only owns pants like that," a girl piped up and most of the class laughed as he blushed faintly.

"Then he'll have to either buy some new ones or borrow someone else's," Zell said. "Okay. Let's take a look at Irvine here."

Irvine's heart skipped a beat and his hands fisted.

"As I said, his hair is fine like this, but the hat has to go." Zell took it off and put it aside. "Also, his jacket." Zell indicated the length of tan reaching Irvine's knees. "Restricts his movements and also makes it harder for me to see how he's doing." Irvine obediently shrugged out of the jacket and tossed it aside.

Hyne, that vest's gay... Zell thought. Doesn't he even realise

"Sir..." one of the students ventured, a hand in the air.

"Go ahead," Zell said.

"Sir..." he said again. "Not being... um... rude or anything, but didn't you say we were supposed to pick partners the same height and weight as us? Or... as close as we could get?"

"Yeah, I did say that."

"So... how can you work with Irv? He's... at least a foot taller than you..."

"Actually, he's not a foot taller than me, thank you. He's half a foot taller than me."

The class laughed at the faked insult on Zell's face.

"Seven inches, actually," Irvine qualified with a slight smirk.

Zell looked at him, and the class laughed harder.

"Well, okay... seven inches. But anyway, you're also... um... way more muscled and stronger than he is... and... stuff... So you're not the same height and not the same build. You're breaking your own rule."

"Excellent point. Your name?"

"Um... Sheylan... Shey, usually."

"Okay, Sheylan, Shey usually, you're a step closer to passing my class." He looked to the rest of the class. "I don't care if you question me - in fact, I'd like you to - it shows you're paying attention and know what I'm trying to teach you. If the question's valid, ask it. Shey's quite right. I did say that. But no one else here is Irvine's height and build. You two are as tall as him, but you're much bigger and stronger. You, you're his build, but you only reach his chin. I know enough to match my strength to his and have enough skill to overcome the fact that he's taller than me. Believe it or not, I'm pretty used to fighting people taller than me."

They laughed again and Zell smiled.

"Okay, getting back to it. Can anyone else tell me what Irvine needs to lose?"

"His vest!" Apocalypse Girl's partner called, giggling, and Irvine smirked at her.

"No, not his vest," Zell said, chuckling. Although, sexual harassment suits aside, I'd love to see that... "Anyone else?"

"His boots?" Sheylan hazarded.

"No, his boots aren't too bad. They're soft, and worn-in. They don't restrict his movement and they're not heavy. He managed to fight a sorceress in them, so I think he'll do fine."

Irvine actually smiled a little at that, and the class murmured agreement.

"Good guess, though. Normally, boots would be a bad choice. One more guess, then I'll get bored and tell you the answer."

"My chaps," Irvine said softly, and Zell smiled.

"Right. Too much movement and they'll dig in at the top of your thighs, making it painful, and the same thing behind your knees. It's a matter of the repetitive movements we'll be doing in this class. They aren't actually going to get in the way, but they'll irritate your skin and muscles with pinching and biting. Well done, Irvine. So, off with them."

Irvine didn't protest. He could see the wisdom in Zell's decision. He unzipped his chaps, bending gracefully to do so, then kicked them off, leaving him in his black jeans, a hand planted on one hip. Zell grabbed his wrist and lifted his hand.

"These are the best gloves. If you want to look cool, this is how to do it, and be functional too. Irvine wears these 'cause they protect his hands from his gun, but also give enough freedom to feel the trigger of said gun. They work the same way for hand-to-hand. They give you support, but also allow you to have full use of your fingers."

The tight-pants gay man's female friend murmured something under her breath to him and he giggled, flapping a hand at her. Zell was fairly certain what she'd said.

"Okay, I'm gonna give you some exercises that I expect you to do every morning, and on the nights we don't have class. Don't think you can skip it, because believe me, I'll know if you have. And anything Irvine can do, any of you can do. He's tall, that makes it harder, and slender, that makes it even harder, and not used to using his body, which makes it about as hard as possible."

Having said that, Zell ran Irvine through several stretches and exercises designed to help all their flexibility and reflexes. He handed out a sheet listing all the exercises and smiled at his class.

"Okay, guys, that's enough for today. Aki'll kill me if he finds out I let you out forty-five minutes early on your first class, but you aren't dressed right. I expect you all to be next time. Any girl who turns up in a short skirt won't be getting out of participating, which means we'll all get to see your underwear, so don't do it. Any guy in a baggy shirt will have to tie one of those girly knots in the front. Got it? Round of applause for Irvine, please."

They were very enthusiastic, and Irvine tipped his retrieved hat with a slight grin. He was surprised and proud of himself that he'd done every single thing Zell had asked of him. Once or twice, the fighter had touched him to help him move into the right position, but he was professional about it, and Irvine was feeling more relaxed about the class now.

Although, they hadn't started actual fighting yet...

He grabbed his jacket and chaps as the rest of the class filed out, chatting about the class and reading over the notes Zell had handed out. Rikan watched him, and Zell watched Rikan, then smirked viciously when the cadet put a hand to his throat, shivered, and followed the rest of the class. He'd taken that warning seriously, then. Good.

"Irvine," he called, and he saw the sharpshooter flinch again.

"Yeah...?" he said warily, turning and hugging his clothing to himself.

Zell sighed.

"I'm not going to bite, Irvine. I'm not gonna call you names or anything either. We're still in class, remember?" He jerked a thumb at the clock. "I call you names, I'm in deep shit. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me. You think I did okay?"

Irvine could only stare. Zell was being nice to him? Zell had never been nice to him! Well... not since Seifer turned up anyway... He supposed Zell was nice to him during the Neo-Sorceress War... Or... maybe they hadn't spent much time together? But that was besides the point. Zell hadn't been nice to him for ages.

"Er... I... yeah, I guess... I weren't bored, anyway..." He offered a hesitant smile.

"You get bored a lot in class?"

Irvine shrugged.

"I guess... I know most of the stuff they teach..."

"Then why aren't you a SeeD yet?"

Irvine looked away, flushing.

Because I can't concentrate, because you and Seifer make it impossible to think about anythin' else. It's because of you

"I don't know. Anyway... can I go? I'm supposed to be having dinner with Anasha and Harada."

That was actually a lie, but Irvine wanted to get out before he ended up screaming at Zell. The fighter nodded slightly and Irvine started off.

"That red-haired kid..." Zell said suddenly and Irvine stilled.

"Rikan? What about him...?"

"I saw the way that other kid dragged him away from you."

"Yeah..."

"There something going on?"

"Nothin' I can't handle," Irvine said fiercely, back going rigid.

"You sure? If he's bothering you, you've got a right to go to Ak-"

"And what about you?" Irvine hissed.

"What about me?"

The sharpshooter rounded on him, eyes dark and haunted.

"Do I have a right to go to him about you? About Seifer!" he cried. "About all the shit you keep puttin' me through? About the names? About the gunblade at my stomach! Don't tell me what I'm allowed to tell Aki, because I know! I know what I'm allowed to tell him, but bein' allowed and bein' able are two different things! I ain't a coward! I ain't goin' to go runnin' to him about Rikan when I've survived with you for months and months!" Irvine turned away, stalking to the door, then he hissed out with so much animosity Zell thought he could feel the words like punches to the gut. "Believe me, after you, Rikan's a walk in the Quad." And he left.

Zell swallowed, watching the door hiss shut, and dropped his gaze. He deserved that. He really deserved that, and he felt horrible for what he'd done to Irvine, what they'd both done. He only hoped that the sharpshooter would come to trust him as much as he seemed to trust Rubedo...

- - -

Irvine lay on his stomach on his bed, eating an absolutely to-die-for meat and potato pie he'd brought with him from the caf and reading over Zell's notes again. He felt really good. The exercises had made him feel energetic and yelling at Zell had been a release he didn't realise he'd needed. He kicked his bare feet back and forth a little, putting aside the notes in favour of a book in which he was soon absorbed.

It was something Rikan had given him, and he'd been wary at first, but it was really good. Like a romance novel, only with men, and the plot was more than boy-meets-girl, boy-is-forced-to-not-be-with-girl, boy-and-girl-come-back-together, happily-ever-after. There was more meat to the plot, and Irvine was really enjoying it.

He should be studying for his GF test, it was in a couple of weeks, but he was pretty sure he knew about everything there was to know about GF, and Leviathan would supply anything he didn't know.

No, I will not! That'sss cheating.

"Sure, you will. You don't want me to fail your subject, do you? Imagine what Bahamut and Ifrit and the others would say."

...Low, Massster. Very low.

Irvine grinned, and licked his fingers clean of the last of his pie, getting steadily redder the further he read in his current chapter, but unable to tear his eyes away.

Benjamin closed his eyes, swallowing as Phillip touched his hair, reassuring him. The younger man smiled tremulously up at the older and nodded, lifting his hips slightly.

He was afraid, but Phillip had never done anything to harm or hurt him, and he loved this man with a love so powerful, it transcended all fear and doubt. If Phillip had asked it of him, he would have run away, but thus far, he had not asked.

Benjamin cried out as Phillip carefully entered him. He saw stars, flashing lights and colliding planets, all due only to this man, this perfect, beautiful man. This man he loved. Oh, it was Heaven, and more.

Irvine finally tore his eyes away from the pages, blushing furiously and... in trouble in other areas. He closed the book with a sharp slap, and the cover taunted him. When He Came Out.

The sharpshooter groaned and hit himself in the forehead with the book. I. Am. Not. Gay!

 

Chapter, The Sixteenth: In Which Zell's Class Centers.​

Zell was busy spending his Tuesday making a mess of Seifer's room. Actually, he was busy looking through a large number of books that were spread all around. He wanted to find the simplest explanation for the techniques and moves he was going to be teaching his class.

Of course, he would be demonstrating, so they would see the move, but a straight forward explanation was always useful.

Seifer had left the insane little blonde alone for a few hours to train, coming back to find the room even more of a mess than it had been when he left, and Zell standing in the center, working on perfecting the moves to match the descriptions.

The taller blond leaned against the door after it had closed, watching the little fighter. He always seemed so much older when he was practicing or fighting. He looked a great deal more serious as well. Seifer was sure that after seeing Zell like this, no one would even think to question him.

Half way through a move, Zell turned to face the door. Spotting Seifer he stopped and smiled. "Hey, good work out?"

"Not really. Just the training center, you know. How about you? Have fun wrestling the tornado that came through here?"

Zell looked around and grinned nervously. "I'll clean it up."

"You had better, or I'll leave it and come live in your room. You've been at this for hours. You'll do fine. Now pack these up while I take a shower." And with that Seifer went into the bathroom.

Blue eyes looked over all the books around Seifer's room. He didn't need to be going over all this again. He'd been reading these things for the last four years. He'd been practicing and using the techniques for nearly as long. He'd been in martial arts since he was seven. But teaching a whole class… It was stressful. He didn't know Quistis had done it, and how she was doing it again.

He started closing the books and piling them up. He could return several of them to the library, the rest he decided he'd keep, just to have so he didn't freak out or anything over some little tiny matter that really wouldn't do anything in the long run.

Seifer walked out of the bathroom a few minutes after Zell finished tidying up, a jade towel slung around his hips. "That looks better."

"So do you," Zell commented, turning to look over his shoulder. "Grat blood just doesn't complement your eyes."

Seifer snorted and walked over to his dresser to find some clean clothes. He dropped the towel to pull on a pair of boxers and Zell, of course, looked. Sure, Seifer was his friend but he was a very good looking man as well.

Zell grinned to himself, going back to the books, sorting them between keeping and returning. They spent the rest of their day hanging out, watching television, going for a walk, Seifer telling Zell he was going to do fine teaching the class time and time again.

- - -

It was Wednesday morning and an unsightly hour at that. Especially when you didn't have missions or classes because you were teaching one that ran in the evening. Zell paced the room.

Well, he wasn't pacing exactly. He was heading to his door before he thought better of it and moved back toward his desk or bed. In one hand a little card was trying to avoid being worried to death between his nervous fingers.

Zell took a deep breath, tore a rectangle of tape off of his tape dispenser and fixed it to the top of the card before heading out of his room. He glanced up and down the hall then headed off, carefully to Irvine's.

He didn't want to be caught sneaking around there, especially if anyone found the note. But wearing the helmet in and out of his room was just about as dangerous. He looked around the corner of the hall that lead down to Irvine's dorm… no one was around.

Zell lifted up the little card, looking at it once more before moving quickly down the hall to stand in front of Irvine's door. Another quick glance around and he stuck the note to the side closest to where it opened, and at Irvine's eye level.

As soon as that was done he zipped off down the hall and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. He was almost positive not a single person saw him anywhere near Irvine's dorm with the note. He could write off any other reason for being there as his common teasing, but if they knew about the note, he'd be in trouble.

- - -

Anasha, and Harada were meeting Irvine at his dorm, and the three were going to head to the quad to work on Zell's morning stretches in the fresh air. The two girls were chatting as Harada knocked on the door, neither of them noticing the note until the door started to open and they looked up to greet Irvine, white catching the corner of their eyes.

"What was that?" Anasha asked, looking to where the door had disappeared into the wall.

"I dunno," Harada replied, looking at the same place.

Irvine craned his head around the door, cocking a brow at them. "What are you, like, lookin' at?"

"Irvy, close the door, there's something on it."

Another cock of the brow before he leaned back into his room and hit the button to close the door.

"Okay! Got it!" Harada said excitedly, and Irvine opened the door again.

"I'm almost afraid to read it… will you? Please?" Irvine asked, eyes clearly displaying the desperation in his voice. He didn't need written abuse from the Blonde Brigade now too.

The two girls leaned their heads together and read over the note. "Who's Rubedo?" Harada asked.

"Isn't he that weird guy that sang with his motorcycle hel- hey!" She squealed as Irvine plucked the note from their hands.

/Irvine,

Maybe I'm being too bold, but… I like seeing you.

We only ever meet on a whim, by total accident…

If you, maybe, wanted to hang out some time,

give me a call. Just tell me where and when and

I'll come find you, okay?

Rubedo

555-3363/

Irvine blushed lightly and pocketed the note, looking up at the two girls. He cleared his throat and stepped out into the hall. "So? Are we goin'?"

Anasha tilted her head to the side, Harada grinned, and the two linked arms with the cowboy, minus coat and chaps, and headed for the quad.

- - -

Zell sat at the front of TRA. It was about fifteen minutes until class, but he wanted to be there early, before all the students. Didn't want everyone to be milling about in the hall waiting for him to get his arse into gear.

The class started coming in at about five to four. Zell was happy to see that they had listened to him and were wearing appropriate clothing, or, appropriate enough. Despite the flexibility they offered, Zell would not chose brightly colored spandex, like the tight-pants wearing guy and a few girls were in. Okay, so he could let the girls off, but Mr. Uber-gay was going to be amusing.

The Cadets and Irvine were the last in, or so Zell thought doing a quick count of the heads in the room. He reached over for his attendance list and began to call out names.

"Amyas Ace, Terry Alfang, Adeline Amarado, Amber Amarado, Dante Anastagio, damn that's a lot of A's." Each named was followed by some way of saying they were in class.

"Anasha Birch, Illo Ditermin, Amaeo Doome, Alyse Eotwawki, Rikan Fawns, Alicia Inglacias, Ken'ichi Yukio, Irvine Kinneas, Mashiro Kano, Sheylan Lancaster, Ricky Morten, Feliz Navidad, Rikusa Harada, Hiro Satry, Takahashi Kinki, Yayoi Kinkuchi."

Zell looked the list over once more. Everyone had shown up, that was good. "Okay, there are a lot of Centrians in this class, so let me ask now. Do instructors go by your first or last names?"

The last student to be called raised his hand, and Zell nodded to allow him to speak. "Our instructors go by our last names. Only close friends go by our first. And our last name is written first on the roll call."

"Well, of course. To make it more difficult. So, you're Yayoi then?" the teen nodded. "Okay, great. If I call you 'yaoi' I swear it's not on purpose." The class giggled, chuckled and laughed. Yayoi made a face like he'd gone through that for quite a number of years. (1)

"Alright then, everyone into your pairs and spread out, Irvine, you can find a free spot at the front. We won't need to do any pairs work right now."

Everyone, including Zell, got to their feet and spread out around the room. "If you've had any experience with martial arts, or dance, right off the bat, you'll have this easier- unless you really sucked during that, and then you're just like all the other beginners. Girls will have this easier also, because their center of gravity is lower to the ground than it is for men. Short men have a bit of an advantage- yay me. Tall men are going to have problems until they get the basics down."

Irvine and about five other males in the class frowned. Goddamn center of gravity.

"I want everyone to close your eyes- yes, I know this sounds lame. Do it anyway. Now, slowly move so you are standing on one foot." Zell waited as the class slipped, fumbled and constantly dropped back onto two feet. "If you're losing it, try slower. Focus on the three points of the foot on the ground: the big toe, pinky toe, and heel. They are your anchor."

Most of the class was finding their inability to do this task rather amusing, and really, Zell was too. But it was time to gather them back together for another go. He clapped his hands twice. "Okay, open your eyes and back to two feet."

"I know, that seemed incredibly stupid and pointless, but it isn't. It's fundamental. Watch." Zell closed his eyes and drew one foot off the floor immediately, not wobbling a millimeter. He lifted onto the tip-toes of the foot on the ground, then bent at his knee, leapt, flipped, and landed back on the same foot. He returned to both and opened his eyes.

"I don't expect you to be doing things like that, but the key in balance, to center yourself in your surroundings and be aware of them."

Okay, so now the class was staring too much to pay attention. Another two claps of the hands. "Eyes closed, again. Slowly. Very slowly. Be aware of yourself, of your feet on the floor, of the floor. If one foot gets tired, slowly switch to the other."

Almost half an hour later, the majority of the class was doing much better with the centering exercise, which pleased Zell quite a bit. The more they did it, the faster they could use it. He walked over to Illo and lifted a hand.

"Touch me and die, Zell," Illo said, eyes not even flicking open.

"Good," Zell said grinning. "Good. You've done this before."

"Yes, but I'm not saying where."

"Ballet," Harada said, stretching her free leg behind her and upward. She didn't lose her balance or hit anyone.

"Harada!" Illo hissed at her.

Zell chuckled. "I should call you Rikusa, right?"

"Mhmm."

"If I need other students to perform demonstrations for me, I'll asked you two I think, alright?"

"Sounds good to me. Hn, Zell, over to the right."

Zell looked over to his left, which was Illo's right, and headed over to the wobbling student to give him a few more tips.

After another five minutes Zell was back in front of the students. "Alright everyone. Open yours eyes slowly. I think you'll find the room quite bright all of a sudden. Now, since I don't want to overly bore you with techniques like that, we'll move onto something more practical."

Zell pulled out several boxes and stood behind them. "Wooden training swords for those that use sword-like weaponry; skipping ropes for all those following Quistis and Selphie too much; plain, light poles for staff, pole, swallow and halberd users. Shurikens and blaster edges will get frisbees- cool, huh? And," Zell turned to look at Irvine. "Irvine gets a baton, since all he'll be doing is pointing it at me." Zell grinned. "Alright, find you imaginary weapons."

Zell walked up to Irvine and handed him the baton, eyes laughing the whole time.

"What's, like, so funny?"

"I feel like I'm five again, pretending toys are weapons. I'll be with you in a moment."

He turned back to the class to give out his instructions. "Alright. Here's what I want you to do. Each of you knock your partner's weapon from his or her hand five times. Then switch. When you lose your weapon, I want you to do the first thing that comes into your mind, within limits. And please, lose the weapon easily since this is to determine reaction after losing it. I'll be observing to see where we stand as a group. Ready? Begin."

Zell went back to Irvine and knocked the "gun" from his hands. The first thing Irvine did was look where the "gun" had gone. "Wrong," Zell said gently, his hand in a loose fist near the sharpshooter's face when he looked back.

Irvine bit his lip and went to get the baton.

The second time Zell knocked it away Irvine focused on not looking at it, but was paying too much attention to that to miss Zell's move again. "Give me a moment to watch the others, Irvine."

Zell made a quick circuit around the room to catch the last moves of the first partners and first moves of the second. He then returned to Irvine.

The cowboy looked him in the eyes, getting a little fed up with this. Who cared about the baton? He was going to lose it anyway, so he might as well focus on what to do after. As soon as it left his hand Irvine swung the opposite hand toward Zell, who caught the fist in his palm. "Good."

Zell made a move to Irvine's right and he stepped away from it without even realizing. "Very good," the fighter said, and Irvine had to smile a little. Why wasn't Zell always like this? Instructor Zell was a lot nicer than teasing, bastard Zell.

Irvine pulled his hand back and retrieved the baton while Zell went back to the front of the room. "Alright. Now, all of you either looked at your weapon when you lost it, or wanted to look at it. You look at your weapon, you're dead. It's that simple. Near the end you reacted better, but that was because you completely disregarded your weapon from the beginning."

"You can't forget about your weapon. You have to constantly be thinking. You have to ask yourselves questions. At what angle was I hit? At what strength? What type of surface am I on? In what direction has my weapon gone?"

He picked up a wooden sword and held it in his hands. "If an attack comes from below and forces the sword up," he arched it and held it where it would land in the ground. "And you were on terrain that was soft enough, or your weapon was sharp enough to go into, it will stay there, and after disposing of, or escaping from the enemy, you can retrieve it."

"You do not have to look directly at something to see it coming. And you will feel the direction in which the weapon leaves your hands."

Zell put the sword away. "Alright, now I want you to put the play-weapons away and line up in a straight line, on the far wall, facing me."

Zell went to the center of the room and waited for the students to line up. "After this, I suggest you have a long bath, shower, or get a professional massage. I'll pay for the massage if you go to Relax and Sea in Balamb. We're going to spend the rest of class working on the roll dodge. It's pretty much just a summersault where you roll on your shoulder instead of your back. It's quick and easy to get back to your feet. So, now I'll demonstrate, once quickly, once slowly."

He turned his back to the students, took two quick steps and then tucked and rolled on his right shoulder. He came back to his feet, grinning over his shoulder before executing the same move at a slower speed, commenting on where the roll should start and end to minimize irritating the muscles.

"Obviously, if you're in the middle of an adrenalin rush, you aren't going to feel any discomfort at all while doing this move. However, by the end of today, you should be fairly sore. Now, I want you all to work on the first part of the roll, which is the tuck, contact and roll to the point you land on your butt. Start slowly, remember to tuck your chin right against your chest, and alternate from right to left. Begin."

By the time class was over everyone was quite good at the roll dodge, and were rubbing their shoulders, no matter how macho they acted. Zell was smiling brightly and handing out Relax and Sea business cards, which all had 'Sent by Zell Dincht' written on the back, ensuring that the bill would be put on Zell's tab, and that the card would be taken at the counter.

 

Chapter, The Seventeenth: In Which Irvine and Zell Moan.​

"So, who is he? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Irvine was doing his level best to ignore Anasha whom, he thought ruefully, was spending far too much time with Selphie. She seemed to have perfected the same persistant bugging that would eventually make anyone tell Selphie anything she wanted to know just in order to shut her up.

They were on their way out of Zell's class, aching and tired, but proud of themselves for the achievements they'd already made in one day.

Harada grabbed Anasha and covered her mouth, which only muffled the "Huh?" so that they could all hear; "H? H? H?". The girl was insane. Yep, definitely too much time with Selphie.

"Anyway," Harada said over the repetative sound her hand was making. "I think we should drive over to Balamb now and take advantage of Zell's SeeD wages."

Zell's ears perked.

"Yeah, I reckon," Hiro said, rubbing his shoulders alternately when he realised trying to do both made him look like some sort of weird newly-risen mummy. "And we can have something to eat afterwards. We don't have any early classes tomorrow."

"Good idea," Irvine said, straightening his hat. "I sure as hell wouldn't be able to sleep achin' like I do now." He looked over his shoulder at Zell. "Sadist," he accused with a playfulness and a wink that quite shocked the fighter, then he was gone.

Zell blinked, then smiled. Irvine must kind've like Instructor Zell.

He straightened a couple of the practice mats and picked up a jacket one of the girls must have left behind. After he'd dropped that into the front office, he went to get his bike and his helmet and change his clothes.

"Hey, Zell, how'd it go?"

Zell turned in the corridor to see Seifer and he smiled.

"Hey. It went great! They're all so enthuastiastic, and some of them could already balance. By the end of the lesson, they all could balance and were getting the hang of the roll I was teaching them!"

Seifer grinned.

"See? Didn't I tell you it'd be fine?"

"Yeah! But next time, you gotta come be my demonstration partner."

"No I don't."

"Sure you do. Anyways, I'm going to Balamb to stretch Rubedo's legs."

Seifer was silent a minute, and Zell started to turn, then the taller blonde spoke.

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"Tell who what?" Zell asked, face turned away from the gunbladist, but he knew what Seifer meant, it just wasn't something he wanted to face.

"You know who and what."

"I... I don't know."

"What if he falls in love with Rubedo? With someone who doesn't exist?"

"I don't know."

Seifer came to him, laying a hand on his shoulder and Zell looked up at him.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Yeah... You know me, Seif."

"Yeah, I do." Seifer smirked. "That's what worries me."

Zell took a swing at him, but he'd already turned and walked off, laughing. The fighter smiled as he watched Seifer go, then it slipped from his features. He didn't like to think about what Seifer had asked, but it had kept him from sleeping the last couple of nights. That, and being unable to stop thinking about the sharpshooter.

He headed off. The ride to Balamb would clear his head.

- - -

"...Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Oh, Hyne, can't someone gag her!" Illo growled.

"Selph would like that," Irvine commented, smirking, and Anasha blushed, but continued.

"Please," Terry whined.

"Even I'd kiss her, if it would make her shut up!" Rikan cried.

"Or you could just tell her why some dude in a helmet is leaving notes on your door, Irvy," Harada piped.

Irvine went bright red and Rikan looked sharply at him, while the rest glanced at Harada with varying degrees of interest.

He opened his mouth to try and turn them aside, but he didn't have to worry. At that moment, one of the attendants for Relax and Sea came to get them. They handed over their cards and she led them each to little rooms in pairs. Despite Rikan's many attempts to get himself in a room with Irvine, Illo shoved him in with Harada, and Irvine ended up by himself in a one-person room.

The attendant was preparing oils and sweet-smelling incense burned in one corner, the smell making Irvine feel sleepy and relaxed. She turned and walked over to the massage table in the center of the room, laying a towel across it, then she bowed politely to Irvine.

"I will leave you now, sir. You can have a few minutes to take off your things a-"

"Take off my...?"

She laughed.

"Of course, sir. You didn't imagine you'd receive a massage fully clothed?"

Irvine flushed.

"Er, I guess not..."

"Don't lift your head when the masseur enters, he's very shy." She paused at the look on Irvine's face. "Don't worry yourself, sir. The towel will protect your modesty, and our masseurs and masseuses are very professional." (1)

Irvine nodded and she bowed again and left the room, laughing softly.

The sharpshooter smiled sheepishly to the empty room and stripped down to his boxers, then wrapped the towel around his hips and settled himself on the table, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

- - -

Zell came in through a back entrance to Relax and Sea, greeting people he'd known since he'd only been able to look over the counter by jumping upward. The owner of the place came over to him and wrapped him in a hug, pulling his face into her ample bosom, something for which he was never grateful when he arrived here, but with which he bore, because she so enjoyed it.

"Hey, Xula. How's things?"

"Just vonderful, Zell! Vee are haffing goot business! Especially vith your students! They all tell us how vonderful your classes are!"

Zell beamed.

"They've only had two," he said modestly. "And the first one didn't even really count. We just talked about Irvine's clothes and did some stretches."

"Ah! Irvine! Vee haf seen him! Tall cowboy vith sexy legs, yes? Yes?"

"Oh, yeah, we seen him alright," a tall, dark man murmured.

"Fine as they come, honey," added a sprightly little woman.

Zell rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were supposed to be professional."

"Vee are," Xula said. "But vee can look, yes? Go. He iz vaiting."

The little fighter bowed respectfully to Xula and her people, then headed off along the corridor, butterflies taking him by surprise by throwing a party behind his navel. He was nervous. It only intensified when he slipped through a curtain to find himself presented with one Irvine Kinneas, stretched out on his stomach with barely anything on.

Zell swallowed. He was so beautiful.

Irvine had drifted off into a sort of doze, brought on by the taxing lesson from Zell and the smell of the incense in the corner. When a drizzle of warmed oil fell down the length of his spine, he barely stirred. Strong, sure hands spread it carefully across his back, then began to work against his shoulders.

The sharpshooter groaned softly through his teeth. Hyne, that was good.

The fighter felt a touch light headed at the willing response, and the sound from the back of Irvine's throat. He worked his fingers deeper, stroking and teasing out knots of tension caused by the constant, repetitive pressures of the class, and it wasn't long before a series of low, pleased sounds were escaping the sharpshooter's lips.

When he ran his thumbs down Irvine's spine, palms smoothing against his back, the cowboy moaned, and it took everything Zell had not to just lean down and kiss the curve where long neck graduated into smooth shoulder.

He stroked Irvine's skin, and stretched the massage out as long as he could, working his hands over areas that were already as relaxed and tension-free as they were going to get. Irvine didn't protest, he just continued to drive Zell crazy with a range of moans, whimpers, gasps and murmurs.

He was both pleased and terribly disappointed when he realized there was nothing more he could do. Pleased, because if he went on even a minute longer, he'd surely jump the poor sharpshooter, and disappointed because he was desperate to keep touching the same sharpshooter.

Instead, he flipped a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and tucked it in a fold of Irvine's vest, then slipped quietly out, letting free a breath he hadn't known he held. Hyne he was turned on... He left as quickly as he could.

- - -

Irvine stirred when the attendant re-entered, patting his back gently.

"Sir? You have to move now, I'm afraid. We have another student to come here."

He blinked and slipped off the table, scratching the back of his head. He hadn't felt so relaxed for as long as he could remember. He smiled his thanks to her and went to pull on his clothes. A piece of paper fell from his vest, but he didn't pay much attention, just got into his jeans and pulled his vest on, not bothering to do it up, and headed for the door.

"Sir! You dropped this."

The attendant picked up the slip of paper and held it out.

"Oh... I thought that was yours..." He trailed off and opened the paper, blinking several times as he read it.

/Irvine,

You have the softest skin I have ever felt.

Thank you for letting me touch you.

Rubedo./

Irvine dashed to where he'd heard the masseur leave and looked up and down the corridor, but it was deserted and he groaned. The man had been right there! Right there! The man had touched him... and it had been so good...

The sharpshooter closed his eyes momentarily, then thanked the attendant and left quietly.

She grinned and went to report to Xula.

- - -

Zell fell back against his door the moment it closed behind, letting out a huff of air and closing his eyes. He bit his lower lip and groaned, dropping his helmet to the floor with a thud as his other hand lifted to rub at his eyes. His breathing was quickened, and his skin tingled where his clothes brushed against it.

He had to get out of them.

In the short space between the door and his bed, he'd disposed of every inch of clothing and he flopped onto his bed completely naked and whimpering.

Hyne damn that fucking cowboy! Didn't he know what he... how he... Hyne! Zell rolled onto his back, flinging an arm over his eyes, and tried to ignore the un-ignorable situation between his legs. When trying to think of something else didn't work, he glared at it, but that didn't work either, so he groaned and gave in, dropping his head back on the pillow as he curled his fingers around himself.

He had such a range of sounds to pepper his fantasizing with. He could hear Irvine moan and cry out, and picturing him was easy. Long limbs, smooth skin, and - ah! - that hair... Unbound and flowing about him as he writhed and arched.

Zell moaned.

Irvine...

Zell!

I-Irvine...

Zeeell!

Irvine!

"Zell!"

"Seifer!"

"Fuck!"

Zell went red from head to toe - Seifer could vouch for that - and grabbed for the sheet, dragging it around himself as fast as he could.

Seifer could only stare, because damned if that hadn't been one of the single most stunningly sexy moments of his entire life. He thought, on hindsight, he should have knocked before just punching in Zell's code and walking on in, but he was kind've glad he hadn't... Because glistening with a fine sheen of sweat, muscles flexing and wrapped in the throes of passion, Zell was fucking hot. He had to admit to having just stood there a moment, watching, before he came to his senses and said Zell's name.

He cleared his throat and pulled his burgundy jacket around himself, thinking of Rinoa naked as hard as he could.

Zell was still blushing, his tattooed cheek turned to Seifer and his hands fisted in the sheet.

Neither of them could move.

 

Chapter, The Eighteenth: In Which Zell is Called Out.​

Zell drew the sheet a little further up his body, ducking his head to hide his face under it, still blushing brightly.

Seifer tore his eyes from the embarrassed blond, looking out of the window instead. He raised a hand to his mouth, clearing his throat. "I… uh, sorry, Zell. I didn't mean to. I didn't know you were… busy."

Zell's cheeks flared up again, mumbling into his sheets, "it's alright, Seifer…"

"I think I should go…" Even before Zell could answer Seifer had turned and left, the door swishing shut behind him. Seifer grumbled, pulling his coat around him tight and mentally growling at naked-Rinoa-image which wasn't staying as a naked-Rinoa-image.

Zell sighed, dropping the sheet to pool around his thighs. He lifted his hands to cradle this face gently. Well, that had certainly been a new and embarrassing experience. Not only that, but being caught in the middle of pleasuring yourself happened to be a negative stimulant… no kidding.

The little blond dragged himself off his bed and headed into the bathroom for a nice hot shower.

- - -

Seifer sat back on his bed. He'd quickly jumped into a cold shower, which proved about as helpful as the thoughts of a nude Rinoa, which you'd think would help. Well, maybe if she stopped changing into Zell Dincht touching himself it would have helped.

He looked up at his ceiling. Of course he knew Zell was good looking, very good looking in fact. But despite that, he hadn't really thought about Zell in any way expect as a friend. He'd seen Zell looking at him sometimes when he dressed. He sneaked a few peeks at the little fighter too. It didn't mean anything… did it?

All of a sudden he was starting to come up with a few theories about some of the fluttering and tight feelings that he got in his stomach when he was around Zell. Still, they seemed a bit far fetched to him. Him and Zell? That was an amusing thought.

- - -

Friday came quickly and Zell was once again looking over books and notes and practicing moves. Since they were going to move onto actual combat today he heading into the training room over an hour early to loosen up and work out the steps he'd be teaching his class.

He was in the middle of an intense twenty move sequence when the class started to come into the room, eyes widening and sitting on the ground to watch Zell until his battle-dance came to an end. As he finished applauds filled the room. The fighter blinked and looked at his students. Everyone, including Irvine was clapping for him.

Zell laughed lightly and rubbed the back of his neck, walking to the front of the room to get the role call and calling out the names. Everyone was there again. "So," Zell began, "how is everyone feeling? Anyone still sore from Wednesday?"

A few people gave groans and nods, but the majority was either fine, or faking it. Didn't matter though, because class was going to go on as scheduled. "I know some of you headed off to get a massage. I'm glad. You should be good and ready for today. Those that didn't, eh, you'll be fine once you start moving."

Zell looked over the class one more time before starting to discuss the day's lesson. "Today we are going to start with another technique that you will probably think is lame. But after that we'll be moving onto some fighting, and combat strategies. The next two weeks will consist of these as well as visits to the training center. Can everyone please move into their pairs?"

Irvine came over to Zell a lot more willingly than he had before. Zell smiled and turned to address the class once more. "Today's technique involves eye contact. I know you probably all think you use eye contact effectively, but this isn't for carrying a conversation. This is for watching your opponent for their next move, and being able to counter it without taking your eyes off theirs. Please, kneel on the ground and face each other at as close a distance as you're comfortable with."

Zell knelt down and waited for the others to do the same. Irvine frowned slightly. He wasn't very comfortable being too close to Zell, and it was going to be so obvious.

"Irvine," Zell said quietly so the rest of the class would not over hear. "I'm sure you want to be a bit further than the others are. That's alright. Just make sure you're comfortable."

Irvine looked down at the ground, shifting to a place he felt he was secure with. He looked back up at Zell who had turned his head to speak to the class again.

"I want you to look only into your partner's left eye. Not both and not the rest of their face. Don't look at the rest of their face, just focus on that one eye. And don't be worried about anything being revealed. You're not revealing anything to each other through this exercise. You are just looking, understanding. Let's try."

Zell turned to face Irvine, smiling gently and focusing his gaze on the left sky blue eye. Irvine seemed nervous, and Zell didn't blame him. After months of torment and trouble from Seifer and himself, he could understand why the sharpshooter had problems focusing so intently on him.

Still looking at Irvine, Zell spoke to the class again. "Now, at random I want you to make movements with your hands toward your partner. Neither of you are to take yours eyes off their current location- and nobody should have stopped to look at me."

Many that had quickly looked back to their partners and found that they were either doing the same or sniggering at them.

"When one of you goes to make a move, I want the other to block it. Remember, eyes on each other at all times. Begin."

Zell smiled slightly and through his peripheral vision caught Irvine's lips twitching a little. This always was a fairly tricky exercise to take seriously, especially at first. He was surprised when Irvine's hand made the first move towards him. However, he easily deflected it, smiling wider.

After several batting of hands left and right by the group Zell got to his feet and called for a short break to shake of the effects of looking at only one thing for so long. Hazy edges to your gaze and watery eyes were not so good when fighting.

After the break Zell started working the pairs on using the skills they had learned over the past two classes to retrieve lost weapons quickly and a few basic defensive and offensive moves to use against their attackers. Although some students did use the roll dodge, no one was anywhere near as sore at the end as they had been just two days ago.

Overall, Zell was starting to feel comfortable teaching a class in this kind of a setting, one in which he knew his surrounds, his material and his ability to teach others the skills they needed.

- - -

Illo and Harada were chatting alongside Irvine as the three headed back to the dorms, dropping Irvine off at his before moving off towards their own.

Irvine went over to his desk, sitting in the chair to take off his boots. The note Rubedo had left sat on the desk next to the phone, catching Irvine's glance every few minutes when he was home, if you could call his dorm his home.

He set the boots aside and picked up the note, reading over it again. It wasn't a Garden designated phone line, which meant it was either a home number, or one for a cell phone. Irvine set the note back down and decided to slip into the shower to wash off after his long class.

After his shower Irvine towel dried his hair, brushed it, and braided it to keep it back from his eyes. He slipped into a comfortable pair of older jeans that still clung to his sexy little arse and a top his friends called a 'tank top' but he continually corrected them, saying it was a wifebeater.

He dropped gracefully onto his bed and picked up on of his text books, flipping to the current chapter they were studying and starting to read. The fact that the subject was boring and repetitive didn't help his focus. His eyes would keep glancing over to the little note on his desk before snapping back to the book and re-reading the last sentence.

After about five pages of glancing to the side Irvine closed the book, looking over at the note before picking it up and looking at it again. He eyes moved back and forth between the number and his phone.

No, I shouldn't.

Sssure, you ssshould.

Ssshut up. Irvine mocked.

He set it back down and picked up his book again, hoping to be able to read without interruption now that he had made the decision not to call. Unfortunately this was not the case. His mind was racing with so many things that had nothing to do with the text. Did he want to see Rubedo? Especially after the last encounter with him. How good it felt… What if Rubedo answered? Would he able to hear the biker's speaking voice? It was almost worth calling just for that… but… should he?

The sharpshooter nibbled nervously on his lower lip, looking at the phone again… then he just lunged for it and the note, lifting the receiver to his ear and dialing the number quickly.

- - -

Zell was spending a quiet evening, avoiding Seifer, in his room. He lounged on the couch in front of the television when his cell began ringing. He reached over to the side table and picked it up, flipping it open to check the screen for the caller.

He smirked to himself and pressed the little green phone symbol button to answer it.

Irvine let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding when the ringing stopped. He was a little disappointed that there was no 'Hello, Rubedo speaking' or a simple 'hi'. "Um, Rubedo? Uh, it's Irvine. I was wonderin' if you… maybe, if you weren't busy that is… I mean." He sighed frustratedly. "I got your note… well, obviously, or I wouldn't have this number. Want to hang out? Maybe in, like, fifteen minutes in front of Garden?"

Zell pressed a button on the cell phone.

It didn't take too long for Irvine to understand the 'one for yes, two for no' system that he was using. "Okay, I'll see you then. Bye, Rubedo."

Irvine hung up first, then Zell, flipping his phone closed. The little blond smiled brightly. This was as close as could be considered as their first official date. So Irvine didn't know who he really was. A lot of relationships are like that, aren't they? Heh.

Zell went to get changed, into another combination of things he rarely wore around Garden. He checked himself over in the mirror before checking the bedside clock. Just over five minutes until meeting time. He opened his door and looked both ways down the hall. No sign of Irvine. Good. He probably left to go to the meeting point right after he called.

Zell put the helmet on and headed quickly to the car park, jumping onto his bike and starting it. He drove out and sped around to the front where Irvine was waiting, sitting on the concrete flower box outside the Garden gates.

The cowboy got to his feet as the single light from the motorcycle came closer and closer to where he waited. He smiled, wrapping his duster around himself.

The biker pulled to the side of the street and popped the back of the seat, pulling out the extra helmet Irvine was getting rather use to wearing. Irvine came over, taking off his hat and putting it away before taking the helmet and putting it on.

The seat came back down and Irvine straddled the bike, sliding up against Zell's back and wrapping his arms around his waist. "Let's go somewhere calm and relaxin'," Irvine suggested, and then they were off.

They zipped down the road for a little ways, then Zell turned the bike off the path and they went flying over the plains until they came to a stop at a grassy hill overlooking the ocean, the beach a little to the left.

Zell kicked the stand into place, turned the bike off, then back on just to the point that allowed him to keep the headlight on.

Irvine got up first, followed by Zell. Irvine took off his helmet and set it on the bike and took a sharp breath when a hand curled around one of his own, leading him over to the hillside.

The two sat down and Zell pulled out his trusty notebook and pen. /I'm glad you called./ he wrote, and shifted the book so the light of the motorcycle hit it.

Irvine blushed faintly but smiled. "I didn't know if I should." He stayed quiet for a little longer, looking like he wanted to say something else, but also too scared or nervous to. "Was it really you? The other day, I mean, at the massage place?"

Zell smiled behind the visor, nodding and lifting a hand to squeeze Irvine's shoulder, rubbing gently.

Despite the deepening blush, Irvine leaned closer. "It was really good. I can't remember the last time I felt that relaxed and good."

/My pleasure/ he wrote with his free hand. /You made pretty sounds when I massaged you./

Irvine cheeks flared up and he ducked his head, looking away.

Zell smiled wider, placing the notebook in Irvine's lap and winding his arms around the cowboy's waist. He could hear Irvine's breath picking up slightly, could almost feel the embarrassed heat coming from the man in his arms. He did nothing more, allowing Irvine to calm down a bit and get comfortable.

"You're so mysterious," Irvine whispered, finding courage enough to lean back into the strong embrace. "Why won't you talk to me?"

/Don't actions speak louder than words/

"Pretty, but actions can't speak. They can only, like, demonstrate. I wish you'd talk to me. I wish you'd show me your face." Irvine's hand trailed down to rest over one of Zell's.

/I… I will. I will eventually. When the time is right, I'll show you who I am./

"I don't want to wait though. Not knowing makes it seem even longer than it really is."

/I want to show you who I am, but I can't. Not yet. But soon, I can promise I will soon./

Irvine fingers tightened around Zell's arm. Why couldn't he? Why? "Why?" he whispered.

/Why can't I show you/ A nod. /You'll understand when the time comes./

He was frustrated. Rikan was scaring him away from these new things he was feeling. It was becoming harder to deny, considering his constant reactions to that book Rikan gave him. But on the other hand, Rubedo was making things so good that he almost felt like giving in to all these new feelings right there and then.

Zell put the pen down, moving an arm from around Irvine and lifting his hand to push up his visor a little, to the same point it had been when he sang. When Irvine turned slightly to question the removal of the warm arm around him Zell's lips came down on his.

Irvine's eyes widened considerably, but quickly slipped shut. How long had he wondered about a kiss from this man? How long had he compared ideas with the unwelcome advances of one Rikan Fawns?

Rubedo was so gentle, so sweet and caring. Of course Irvine remembered telling him about his torment from Zell and Seifer, and about Rikan hounding him, and even about not being gay. But unlike Rikan, working to only please himself and get want he wanted, Rubedo was patient and slow, letting Irvine contribute to the kiss, to share it.

A small shiver ran up both their spines and Zell pressed his lips a little firmer to the sharpshooter's while still being a gentleman and keeping his tongue to himself, despite his growing desire to just claim the delectable treat he was currently attached to.

Eventually the gentle kiss came to an end, both pulling a little ways from each other. Irvine's eyes slowly opening to that wide, innocent look that just stole Zell's heart. He lifted a hand to stroke the gunman's cheek, lips curling into an adoring smile. And Irvine's cheeks began to glow brightly again.

 

Chapter, The Nineteenth: In Which Irvine and Zell Cry.​

Irvine's heart was beating at a rate he hadn't thought it could reach and he had to look away, feeling hot, and not just because he was blushing. Blushing. He'd done a lot of that lately. It really wasn't good for his image. It wasn't who he was... but then again, who he was had been challenged recently in so many ways.

He swallowed, and a tear ran down his cheek. Once it fell, several more followed, and again Zell found himself holding a sobbing Irvine.

I didn't mean to make him cry... Oh, Hyne...

"Irvine..." he mouthed silently against the sharpshooter's hair and Irvine looked up.

"You said my name..."

"Irvine," he mouthed again, so Irvine could see it.

The sharpshooter gave a watery smile and his tears dried up. He burrowed into Zell's arms and sought out the warmth of his body, curling there as though it was where he belonged. The fighter stroked his hair again, because he couldn't resist the silken strands, and wrote on the pad still set in Irvine's lap.

/I didn't mean to make you cry./

"No, it wasn't... I mean... I'm not cryin' because of you... I mean..."

/You're confused./

"Yeah... no... I guess. I want... I..."

/What? You can tell me./

"What if I... What if I am gay..."

/What if you are/ Rubedo shrugged. /Lots of people are./

"...I can't be..."

/Why can't you be/

"I... I just... I..."

/I'm gay./

Irvine was silent for a long time, then he nodded a little.

"I figured. Since you..." That adorable blush fanned out across his cheeks. "...you kissed me."

/I wanted to... since... Well, for a long time. You're very beautiful.../

"Girls are beautiful. A guy... isn't supposed to be beautiful... Seifer... Seifer calls me "pretty"... All the time."

/You are pretty./

"Like a girl..." It was a bitter whisper.

/No. Like you. Like Irvine. You don't look like a girl. Believe me, you didn't look like a girl stretched out on that table at Relax and Sea. You didn't sound like one, either. No one could mistake you for a girl. You're beautiful, yes, but you're a man, too./ Irvine saw him grin. /If you weren't, I wouldn't have kissed you, now would I/

Irvine grinned too, giving a slight laugh.

"I guess not..." He was silent for a long moment, then, blushing again, he said quickly; "Itwasnice."

Rubedo smiled at him, brushing his hair back from his pinked cheeks.

/I thought so, too./

Irvine looked at him, and tried to speak, but he couldn't make the words come.

Can you do it again?

Asssk him.

Please?

He wantsss to asss well.

I can't.

The sharpshooter looked away again, worrying at his lower lip with a set of straight teeth. It was a nervous habit Zell seemed to see more as Rubedo than as himself.

/Are you okay/

"Yeah... I..."

Zell couldn't resist. Irvine's lips had formed a slight pout at whatever was on his mind, and - Hyne! - he looked so beautiful in the moonlight, and it was so good to be near him and not have him inches from terror. He lifted the sharpshooter's chin and kissed him again, soft and warm like before. There was no surprise on Irvine's features this time. He closed his eyes and relaxed in Zell's arms, an unquestioning trust in him that took the fighter's breath away.

But Zell was only human.

Irvine's response was so ready and willing that the fighter was touching his tongue to the sharpshooter's lower lip before either of them knew what was happening. Irvine tensed, swallowing, and one hand fisted in Rubedo's shirt, but instinct parted his lips and teeth, giving access.

He was expecting it to be rough and demanding, taking, taking, taking - like Rikan - but he supposed he should have learned by now that Rubedo was far removed from the red-haired cadet. He didn't force anything. He asked. And when his tongue took what was offered him, it begged that Irvine respond. And Irvine couldn't say no. Tentatively, he ran his own tongue along Rubedo's and he thought he just might die when a low, pleased sound came from the back of the biker's throat.

It was as though Rubedo could learn everything about him through just the one kiss, and as though he wanted to make the best of it. He left nothing untouched, and it made Irvine feel special instead of afraid. All thought of being anything even like afraid fled from the sharpshooter's mind and his hand flattened against Rubedo's chest.

You gotta stop, Zell, his mind informed him. You gotta stop or you won't be able to. Stop!

Zell forced himself to break the kiss with a sigh, lips still against Irvine's. He could hear that he had quickened the sharpshooter's breath, could feel the slender fingers flex slightly against his chest. Hyne! Irvine wouldn't stop him! If he asked, he would be given everything. He knew it. Knew it!

"...Rubedo..." Irvine whispered, and it was like a bucket of ice-water had been dumped over Zell's head.

He took a sharp breath. He wouldn't be given anything. Rubedo would. Rubedo. He closed his eyes, fighting an emotion he couldn't name.

/I have to go/ he wrote without looking.

"What...? But... I... Rubedo, please..."

Zell flinched at the name, teeth gritting against the tears.

He doesn't want me...

"Rubedo..."

I can't...

"Please... what's wrong?"

Zell shook his head, shifting Irvine away from him as gently as he could. He tapped his previous words again. /I have to go./

"But... But, Rub-"

Zell put a hand over Irvine's mouth, shaking his head. He didn't want to hear it again. He couldn't.

"Shh..." he hissed, and leaned forward to press his lips briefly against Irvine's. /I have to go./

It wasn't that far of a walk back to Garden, Irvine supposed as he watched Rubedo drive away, the helmet back in the seat, and his hat back in his hands - but why had the biker gone?

"Did I do somethin' wrong...?" he wondered, standing up. His eyes and throat burned with threatening tears and he put his fingers to his lips, where he could still feel the kiss...es. It had been so... so... right.

Why...?

- - -

Zell only drove towards Garden until he knew he was out of Irvine's sight, then turned and went tearing back to Balamb. He couldn't talk to Seifer, not after what had happened, and besides that, the gunbladist had been strange about Irvine lately anyway. He had to go to his Ma. It was late, but she wouldn't mind.

He drove the bike right up to her doorstep and kicked the stand down, ripping the helmet off his head and dropping it to the ground as he nearly fell down the stairs to the front door. He knocked, hard and desperate, and he was so, so glad when a light came on inside and his Ma called out.

"Who's there...?"

"It's me..." he sobbed. "It's-"

But she had already opened the door and pulled him into her arms. She smelled of roses and cleaning stuff, and home, and she sank to the floor with him, holding him and rocking him while he cried, and cried, and cried. She didn't ask what was wrong, not yet, she was just there for him, stroking his back and kissing his sweat-and-tear soaked face as he sobbed into her pyjamas.

It was just like when he'd been a little boy, waking up in the middle of the night to find his friends weren't there in the room with him. He would come to her bed, and ask her where they were, and she would gently remind him. It happened less and less frequently as he grew up, but it was like that all over again, his hands fisted in the front of her pyjama top, his body trying desperately to curl into her lap, though he didn't fit there anymore. And she didn't think he had that many tears left in him, but he seemed to cry for hours, and when there were no tears left, he gave dry sobs that made her heart break for him.

When he finally, finally stopped crying, the whole story came pouring out of him, from his and Seifer's terrible treatment of Irvine to what had happened on the hill. She said nothing for a long time, just sat him on the couch and made him a cup of tea, and let him sit in silence while he drank it.

"You were terribly mean to him," was the first thing she said and Zell looked sharply at her. That wasn't what he'd expected.

"I... guess..."

"There's no guessing about it, Zell. You were awful to him. Think about what you've done to him."

She gave him some time to think about that, and it wasn't long before he was fiddling uncomfortably with one of the slip covers from the arm of the couch.

"Yeah... I know..."

"Then perhaps this is your punishment. Hyne's letting you realize how bad you made poor Irvine feel, and he's making you feel bad in return."

Zell looked down. She was right. She was always right. And he deserved this.

"But..."

He looked back up.

"But what?"

"But you have to tell him who you are."

"I can't. He'll hate me."

"Then, what? You'll let him fall in love with someone who doesn't exist and break his heart? I think you've hurt him enough, Zell Rubedo Dincht. You'll have to tell him and let him decide."

"I don't want him to hate me..."

"That's a chance you'll just have to take, my love."

She came to him, touching his cheek.

"But, Ma..."

"No buts, Zell. You already knew what you had to do before I told you. Frankly, I'm disappointed in you. I didn't think you'd ever treat another person like that. You need to show him who you really are and apologize for teasing him, as well as lying to him. Then, it'll be in his hands. You jeopardized any possible relationship with him by pretending to be someone else, and you'll have to deal with the consequences."

His eyes were terrified and she stroked his hair, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"You said yourself he's realizing the truth about who he is and what he wants. If his feelings for who he thinks you are are deep enough, then whatever upset you cause, he'll let you heal. Sleep here tonight, my lovely boy, and then find the right time and the right way to tell him."

Zell nodded mutely, tears pooling in his eyes again.

"I'm sorry, Ma... I'm so sorry I disappointed you like that..."

"You should be," she muttered, but then she smiled. "Everyone makes mistakes, Zell. It's what makes us human."

He stood and flung his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"I love you, Ma. Thank you."

She smiled and patted his back.

"Anytime, love. Anytime. Now! Go to bed. Off with you!"

He smiled damply and did as he was told, getting into his pyjamas and slipping between the clean-smelling sheets, thoughts of only one person peppering his mind as his fell into an exhausted sleep.

- - -

Back at Garden, Irvine was also sliding into bed, reliving the feelings Rubedo had caused with those kisses and storing them away.

He was afraid he would never see the biker again, after he had left so suddenly, so he wanted to make sure he would never forget any detail of how it had felt, being held and kissed as though he meant something to the man who held and kissed him.

The man.

He'd better stop denying it, then, hadn't he?

"I'm... I'm gay..." he whispered to the dark, and it felt good to say it, even if no one was there to hear.

 

Chapter, The Twentieth: In Which Seifer Pins Zell Down.​

Zell woke to the bright light of morning shining through his windows, his arms wrapped around one of his pillows which he had pulled close against himself as he slept. He snuggled under his covers, caught between waking and not wanting to leave the cozy warmth of bed.

Eventually warmth was not the only thing invading his senses, and soon the knowledge that breakfast was being prepared was made evident to his nose. He stretched and yawned, pulling back his blankets and stepping out of bed.

He stretched once more, arms reached high into the air, moving up onto his tip-toes, and still nowhere near touching the ceiling. He shuffled across his floor and went into his bathroom to do all the things young men do just after waking.

When he came back into his room his hair was brushed, but not gelled, falling softly down by his ears and around his eyes. He couldn't ever decide if the down look made him seem younger or older. The spikes were like those of a rebellious teenager, wanting to stand out and be noticed. They were hard, rigid and controlled. Letting them down was a softer look. He was pretty sure he looked gentler, but the lack of social defiance to it seemed to bring a more mature air about him. Not that he was anymore mature than he was normally. He just sometimes looked it.

He changed into some clean clothes before heading over to make his bed, smoothing the sheets, the cover, fluffing and placing the pillows. After it was all pretty he dropped his clothes from yesterday in the hamper and headed downstairs for breakfast.

- - -

A loud, annoying beeping from an alarm clock was what woke up Irvine. The cowboy's eyes opened slowly to the sight of the glowing numbers. He groaned, having forgotten to turn it off the night before. It was a Saturday dammit, he didn't need to be up yet.

Only half looking he fiddled with the buttons until he was sure the bugger was off, then collapsed back against his bed and pillows, smiling happily and curling tighter under his cover. At the moment, his mind was fogged and happy with thoughts of kisses and warm, strong arms. He fell back to sleep thinking about the biker.

Irvine woke again a couple hours later, blinking his eyes open and stretching out over his bed. He looked over to his clock again and smiled. That was a much better time to wake up on a Saturday.

He slid out of bed, slipping into the bathroom for morning activities and a nice hot shower. He turned on the water, leaving it to warm up while he brushed his hair quickly, just to get the knots out. Then he checked the temperature and stepped under the spray.

It was so nice and soothing and Irvine made a little pleased sound. It wasn't until half way through his shower that he remembered what had happened after the kiss, after the arms and the man he realized he was starting to care about.

He frowned a little, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair. Why had Rubedo looked so upset? Even the lines of his mouth showed it clear as day. Why had he left so suddenly? Was it something Irvine did wrong? Could he fix it? Would he ever see Rubedo again? He bit his bottom lip. He didn't want to think about Rubedo disappearing on him. This was such an important part of his life. He was learning something new and special about himself and it was the sweet biker that had helped him to see it.

- - -

Zell had been avoiding him since Wednesday- well Thursday really as neither thought it was a good idea to see each other the night he'd walked in on the little blond. But this was getting out of hand.

Seifer had looked all over Garden for Zell on Friday, but the only thing he concluded was that he was hiding in his room, and then went directly to his class and back again. He had learned later that several people saw him, with his helmet on, heading to the car park but had heard from no one that he had returned.

He didn't want Zell to keep avoiding him. Sure, it was embarrassing for the little guy but it wasn't like he was doing something taboo. It wasn't something that was frequently brought up in conversation, but everyone knew that everyone else did it.

Since Zell wasn't coming to him, he'd go to the fighter and talk with him, get him to see it was fine. The gunbladist was sure Zell had gone to his mother's and waited until he suspected his comrade would be waking before setting off down the road to the town of Balamb.

He walked down the main street, walking past Zell's house and heading into the shopping area of town. It was late enough in the morning that the shops would be open. Seifer decided to pick up some chocolates and the most manly bouquet of flowers he could find. Sure… bouquets could be manly. Toss out all the baby's breath for one. Stupid filler plant.

Seifer paid and headed back to Zell's door, smirking at the image he could already picture on the fighter's face. He looked like he was trying to win back a lover, not tell a best friend it's alright to touch yourself in the privacy of your own room.

He knocked and took a step back from the door, waiting for it to be opened. He hoped it would be Zell, since Mrs. Dincht would surely fuss over the matter to make both boys embarrassed even though she knew damn well they weren't an item.

But Seifer was not that lucky, and Ma Dincht was the one that opened the door, smiling brightly before even knowing who had come a-knocking. "Seifer!" she said happily. She didn't see him very often even though Zell boasted of their friendship almost every time he was over. She was also loud enough for her son to hear.

The tattooed blond, who was nearly finished putting his dishes in the sink, dropped them the rest of the two inches, the clatter ringing through the house.

Ma looked over in the direction of the kitchen, then back to Seifer, eyeing the chocolates and flowers in his arms. Despite the fact she knew they weren't going out she, one, couldn't see why not, and two, thought it would be fun to "mess with them" a little. Mainly Zell.

"Oh, Seifer! What have you got there? Have you come to see Zell? Zell!" she asked, questioned and called, not even giving the not-yet-invited-in-guest a chance to speak. "Come in, Seifer. Do come in. It's so nice to see you."

"Uh, thank you, Mrs. Dincht," Seifer said, stepping into the house and catching the tail end of Zell zipping up his stairs.

"Call me Ma, Seifer. I've told you before."

He looked back to the woman who was closing the door. "Oh, yes, sorry, Ma. Do you mind if I go up to Zell's room? He's escaped on me it seems."

Ma walked into the kitchen to double check, and sure enough the little twit had scampered off. She leaned back out and nodded before heading back in to wash the dishes.

Seifer took off his shoes and hung up his grey trench coat before picking up his gifts and heading up the stairs. He knocked on the door but there was no answer. Seifer knew he had a lock on it but he tried it just in case. It was open.

He opened the door and looked in, scanning the room and noticing the closed door to the bathroom. That's where he was hiding. Seifer headed into the room and over to Zell's bed. He wasn't about to break the door so he sat down in case he was in for a long wait. Zell needed a chair in here. There was enough fucking room for one.

Seifer looked around, noting the guns, the punching bags, the number of encyclopedias on the cutaway shelf next to Zell's bed. The little shit was hyper and bouncy, but damn smart too. "Zell," he called toward the door.

Zell sat on the edge of his bathtub, glancing at the door. He knew that he was being stupid but he couldn't help feeling embarrassed, and just the thought of Seifer seeing him made his cheeks feel hot.

"Zell," Seifer called again. He knew this wasn't going anywhere. "Wow, those are really nice guns."

"Don't even touch those!" Zell yelped through the door. "Irvine already blew a hole in my fucking room!"

"What wonderful craftsmanship," the scarred blond grinned. He knew Zell was getting antsy and he hadn't even got off the bed. "Really amazing."

The bathroom door flew open and Zell ran into his room, towards the gun-rack before even registering that Seifer was not standing there, but sitting on his bed. He squeaked and made a dash in the opposite direction but Seifer's arms wrapped around him and tossed him onto the bed.

Zell squirmed and struggled, trying to claw, or wriggle, or fall his way out of bed then scurry back into the bathroom to hide. Unfortunately, he wasn't thinking about the situation, he was thinking about where he'd escape and Seifer managed to get him on his back and straddle his hips.

"You've been avoiding me," Seifer said, holding the tattooed blond's hands above his head.

Zell pouted and whimpered. Seifer had caught him and got him into a weakened position. Damn Seifer knowing how to get people into weakened positions! "Whaddaya want?" Zell mumbled, looking to the left.

Seifer transferred Zell's wrists into one hand, reaching over with the others to pick up the box of chocolates. He set the box on the bed, opened the lid, picked out a chocolate and gave/forced it into Zell's mouth.

The fighter ran his tongue over it, then chewed slowly. White chocolate with a perfect, light, sweet-but-not-too-sweet strawberry cream filling. His eyes nearly rolled back in his head. Hyne, that was delicious. He slowly looked back up at Seifer, glancing to the chocolates a few times.

Seifer chose another and held it to Zell's lips. The whole box was white chocolates with various fillings, this one caramel. They were harder to come by, but he knew how much Zell adored white chocolate.

Zell opened his mouth and munched on the chocolate, becoming happier by the second. "You bought me chocolates?" Zell asked, looking up at Seifer and giving a tug of his arms.

Seifer released him and moved off his lap, sitting back on the bed, Zell moving to sit beside him. The taller leaned boy back, picking up the flowers and holding them out to Zell too.

Zell stared at them for a moment before taking them. "What am I? Your girlfriend?" He snorted, then got up to put the flowers in some water. He had a glass on his shelf, so he went into the bathroom with that to fill it up and brought the flowers back out in it. He placed them on the shelf that ran along the length of the wall opposite the bed and returned to Seifer's side.

When Zell reached for the chocolates Seifer slid them out of his grasp and smiled at the pout it earned him. "About Wednesday," he said gently.

Zell looked away and down at the ground. "That's no problem."

"No, it isn't. But you're making it one, Zell. You're avoiding me. I gave you Thursday to calm down about it, but you still hid all Friday too. And you tried to hide today. I know you don't want people catching you doing that, but really, who cares?"

Zell glanced up and him as he continued. "Everyone does it. Every man and woman does it. Guys are just known for it more. So what if I saw you touching yourself." Zell's cheeks flared up. "I knew you did that. I do it. I'm sure Squall even does it… quietly." Zell nearly giggled at that. "Be glad it wasn't Selphie or Quistis. One would dash for her camera, the other for a free fag. I'll let you chose who would do what."

The little blond fell into Seifer as way of hitting him, also reaching behind the gunbladist's back for another chocolate. He was a whore for white chocolate. He'd be a whore for white chocolate. Okay, maybe that was a little over the top, but he did love the stuff.

Seifer felt the movement and drew the box away and into his lap, picking a third treat and holding it out. "Open your mouth and say awww," Seifer grinned, popping the chocolate into the fighter's mouth.

"Does that mean I get to walk in on you to make it even?" Zell banged his head against Seifer's shoulder several times. There happened to be issues if Zell was given white chocolate and no other task…

Seifer cocked a brow at him, looking from the little blond growing sillier by the second to the box of chocolates, then back to the blond. "Tell you what. If you do walk in on me, sit down, shut up and let me finish."

"Okay," Zell said brightly, nibbling on another chocolate.

"Would you like me to go out for a bit?" Ma called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Ma!" Zell literally seemed to wark. "We aren't doing anything that would warrant you having to go out!"

Seifer's eyes traveled over to the books on the shelf. Warrant, huh? "But you never know, Ma. If you have things to do, now might be good!" Seifer called after Zell.

Zell spun, eyes wide. "Seifer, you fucking liar!" Zell leapt and tackled him.

Ma looked up the stairs and shook her head. She knew the candy and flowers had been something of a joke, to get Zell's attention for whatever it was they had to solve. It was still cute. Even though she knew both men were obviously tops, she still thought they could have made a good couple.

Instead they went off on a torment spree, and Zell had fallen for the victim. Her eyes lifted to the ceiling, giving it a look and clapped her hands twice. "Bravo, bravo," she said, talking to Hyne, of course, for his evil little plan against her son. But, he did deserve it so she wasn't too upset about the matters at hand.