Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

Mind Games	By : danihouse Category: Final Fantasy VIII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 942 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of the characters represented in the story, and I make no profit from it.

Chapter List
- 1-Mind Games
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19.1
- 20-19.2
- 21-20
- 22-21
- 23-22
- 22
- 23
It was over an hour into the party before Quistis managed to get Zell alone, and Zell was surprised it even took that long; she had been giving him the eye ever since he walked in, clearly eager to have him to herself for a few moments. It wasn't like he could avoid her forever, after all - and if he did it for much longer, she was likely to start getting suspicious. So he purposely wandered over to the bar by himself while Selphie and Nida were telling an animated story about a recent snowboarding escapade, and had the attention of the rest of the group. Sure enough, Quistis peeled away from the others to follow him, and joined him at the bar a couple moments later.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he said jokingly, sorting through the lineup of bottles on the counter. "What are you having?"

"Vodka tonic would be lovely," she replied, passing over her glass. Zell went behind the bar and played bartender, waiting for her to talk. However, she just watched him in silence until he was finished with both their drinks, and then she sipped hers with a thoughtful expression.

Alright, so she wasn't going to ask. Maybe she wasn't drunk enough yet. Zell would have to get the ball rolling.

"I love your hair, by the way," he started, stirring his drink with a straw. "It's a good look on you."

"Oh, thank you," she said bashfully, reaching up to play with the ends of her hair with an air of self-consciousness. She had caused quite a commotion when she arrived to the party with a brand new look - a sassy little chin-length bob with a heavy fringe, which actually suited her face surprisingly well. It was a far cry from the same long, straight, and (in Zell's opinion, not that he had a lot of opinions on women's hair, generally,) pretty blah hairstyle she'd been sticking with for the past few years.

"Why, all of a sudden?" Zell asked.

"I suppose I was feeling like a change," she admitted, and then shrugged. She was acting like it was no big deal, and maybe it wasn't, but as far as Zell knew, a woman cutting off all of her hair was a pretty big deal. He could be wrong on that; Quistis sure didn't seem any different than usual. In fact, she was more than usually cheerful tonight.

"Well, I like it," he said, giving her a smile.

"Thanks," she said again. She sipped at her drink, and then said, "your hair's almost as long as mine, now. Are you growing it out?"

"Not at all," he replied, making a face, and Quistis chuckled. "I need to get a trim. I meant to do it before leaving for Galbadia, but I just ran out of time."

She nodded, but didn't say anything. Zell leaned on the counter, sweeping his hair - which was really getting too long for his liking - out of his eyes and tucking it behind his ear. He'd just given her a perfect in to the topic he knew she was dying to bring up. He only had to wait a couple of moments before she jumped right in. "So," she said, looking down into her drink, "I read the mission report from your last mission."

"Yeah, a real page-turner, wasn't it?" he joked.

Quistis grinned, and rolled her eyes. "All things considered, I think you and Seifer did an admirable job of doing what you were sent there to do. Especially you, for dealing with him."

"That's what I said, but Squall didn't seem to agree with me."

"Yeah, him," Quistis scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "Honestly, I think he just can't get over the fact that Dallia Caraway got the better of him. He's been pissy about it the whole week; I've given up on talking him over," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the brunet, who was standing somewhat apart from the rest of the group, with an expression on his face that suggested he'd rather be in his office doing paperwork. "I wonder if he's reconsidering his relationship with Rinoa."

"The thought of a mother-in-law like that? I think I'd reconsider," Zell said, laughing. Quistis smirked, and turned back to face him.

"Whatever, he'll get over it," she said. "Anyway, can we talk about Seifer?"

Finally, she got to the point. "Do we have to?" Zell replied. "I think I've had enough of Seifer to last me just about a lifetime." Oh, what a liar you are, Zell, he thought, trying not to grin.

"You did promise," Quistis said. "I mean, I've been thinking about it plenty while you guys were gone, and it's totally obvious in retrospect that he was jerking me around. But, you know, hindsight and all."

"I wouldn't be too hung up on it, if I were you," Zell said. "Seifer makes it a practice to fuck with people just for fun. He's all about mind games," he added. Then he did grin. "He did get a taste of his own medicine from Dallia. So maybe that's poetic justice."

"How on earth did you two get along for a month?"

"Mostly by each of us ignoring the fact that the other existed. It wasn't easy, I tell you."

Quistis took a drink, running one hand through her new short hair, as if unconsciously. "Squall was under the impression that you two did a lot of fighting," she said.

"When don't we?"

"Well, to be honest, up until about a month ago, I thought you two had grown out of it," Quistis admitted. She gave Zell a look that he couldn't quite make out - she was hinting at something, but what? Then she went on, "is that how you two manage to get on? By totally ignoring the other?"

"That's about how we've made it work for the past five years," Zell said. "That is, until Squall decided to literally stick us in a room together for four weeks. He can't possibly be surprised that the mission didn't go off without a few hitches."

"No, I don't think so. I guess maybe neither of us realized how bad things really were between you two," she remarked, sounding surprised at her own words. Zell didn't say anything, but wondered fretfully if he was overselling it. It was true that he and Seifer had managed to not continue their childhood tradition of constant fighting and bickering mainly by staying out of each other's way ever since Seifer returned to Garden.

Now Zell was curious. He had never felt the slightest inclination toward Seifer - sexual or otherwise - until the bastard crawled into his bed, not even two months ago now. In such a short space of time, he had gone from completely hating Seifer to completely, well, likinghim - and if he hadn't been fighting against himself the entire way, it probably would have happened in half the time. He couldn't help but wonder if this was something that had been sleeping within him for years now, lurking quietly, just waiting for the right catalyst - just waiting to be shoved together with Seifer in a room for four weeks.

"I really should apologize," Quistis said, now looking away from Zell with a fairly embarrassed expression. "I was the one who suggested to pair you two up for that mission."

"I knew it!"

"I really did it with the best of intentions," she pleaded, which Zell had already suspected. He said nothing. He wasn't truly angry with her over it, even if he had been before. "At that point, you know, I was under the impression that..."

"Yeah, I know what impression you were under," Zell said coolly. Quistis looked honestly chagrined, so he let her off the hook with a smile. "What I can't fathom is how you let him talk you into such a thing. Any way you look at it, it's absurd."

"He's quite an actor," she mused, tilting her glass this way and that. "In my defense, how was I supposed to know? He wasn't like himself. It's not totally unfeasible that he might have been in love with you..."

"Quistis!"

"All I'm saying," she went on, gulping the last of her drink, "is that it's not like I could know that he wasn't, you know? I'm not exactly an expert on Seifer's attitudes, in love or otherwise. Anyway, he was very subtle about it. Anyone would have been taken in."

"Uh-huh," Zell said, taking her glass back from her. Now she was getting drunk. Well, she had downed that last drink of hers pretty quickly, and Quistis had always been something of a lightweight in any case. He fixed her next glass a little bit lighter on the vodka.

“I recommended him for a promotion, you know,” she remarked.

 “What? Why?”

“Well,” she hummed, taking her drink back from him, “mainly to irritate Squall. But partly because I think he maybe deserves one. I’ve been thinking so for a while.”

Zell didn’t say anything, wondering where she was going with this. He hoped she wasn’t going to ask his opinion on the matter, because there was no good way for him to provide it; being too supportive of Seifer would raise her suspicions, and being too hard on him would be unfair, because really, he did deserve a lot better than Garden was giving him. Especially considering what he’d been through on this last mission of theirs, Seifer was worth a lot more than Garden was giving him credit for.

“So, if Squall happens to ask you, I hope you’ll back me up,” Quistis went on, finally getting to the point. “You can find something good to say, right? I mean, even you have to admit that he behaved a lot better than you were probably expecting on your trip.”

“Well… that’s debatable,” Zell muttered vaguely, but he couldn’t help a grin nevertheless. Seifer’s behavior in Galbadia had met and exceeded all his expectations, in ways both good and bad. But overall, he could say that, yes, Seifer had performed exceptionally well, given circumstances. For one thing, he had come face-to-face with his own personal demons in the shape of a sorceress in pink kitten heels and not completely flipped his shit. Five weeks before, Zell wouldn’t have given Seifer’s mental state the benefit of the doubt, but his opinion was different now.

"Did you give him hell?" she asked, smiling coyly.

Zell was thinking up an appropriately witty response to that when suddenly the lights went out. A moment or two later, they could see again - but only barely, by the flashing blue and purple illumination of a strobelight. Quistis groaned, thumping her glass on the countertop. "Looks like Selphie's ready to start dancing," Zell murmured, hiding a smile behind his drink.

"She's ridiculous. I don't know how in the world she talks Squall into letting her do this kind of shit," Quistis said in a defeated sort of tone. "If I were half as good at it as she is, my job would be so much easier."

"She's hooked up a disco ball," Zell observed. Some ways away, he could make out Selphie's profile against the pulsing lights, coaxing people to dance with her. She was plenty drunk already, if Zell had to guess. The crowd of people, which was small to begin with - only fifteen or so - thinned out a little as some of Selphie's guests managed to escape her, melting into the darker corners of the room.

"I think I'll just hide behind here with you," Quistis remarked, sidling round the bar towards the back. Someone came up just at that moment, however, and pulled her back by the arm.

"And just where do you think you're going, darlin'?" Irvine cooed, planting a kiss on the struggling blonde's cheek. "You can't escape the party princess, you know that. Your attempts are futile."

"Let me go," she grumbled, trying to dislodge him without putting her drink down, which Zell had to admit was fun to watch. "You won't convince me to dance, absolutely not. Not after last time."

"I wasn't going to," Irvine said, but he let her go. "I came over to borrow your bartender, if you can spare him for a moment or two? And what are you two doing over here all secretive-like, anyhow?"

"We're not being secretive. We're just talking," Quistis said.

"And getting into the hard liquor, by the look of you," Irvine said with a smirk.

"Well, someone's got to keep it away from you. We all remember your last birthday."

"Ladies, please?" Zell interrupted. Irvine gave him a cool look, but Quistis grinned, and then made her exit, clutching her drink closely. Irvine just shook his head and watched her go.

"She's sassy lately."

"Must be the hair," Zell said. "You wanted me for something?"

"If you've got a minute, can we have a chat?"

Zell pretended to think about it. "Wouldn't you rather be out there?" he asked, nodding toward the small crowd of people Selphie had gathered round her in the makeshift dance floor at the center of the room. Irvine looked over his shoulder at the scene, as Selphie argued with Rinoa over which CD to put in.

"I would, but Selphie ran me off," Irvine said somberly. He went down the line of bottles on the counter, and pulled one out.

"That's not like her."

"Well, you've hit upon the very thing," the redhead replied cryptically, pouring whiskey into a glass. "Let's move elsewhere," he added as the music began to play, at a volume that effectively eliminated the capacity for conversation. He hijacked as many bottles of liquor as he could fit under his free arm, and then led the way toward the far edge of the room, with Zell following.

“So,” Irvine began as they managed to find a shadowy spot against the wall that wasn’t already occupied by others trying to escape Selphie’s dance party, “you guys talking about Seifer?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“You had that kinda pinched look on your face like you get whenever he’s around,” Irvine said. Zell pondered that for a moment, but didn’t deign to reply. “Also, Selphie told me she ran into him in the hallway trying to crash her party.”

“Yeah, they had an altercation,” Zell replied, which made the other man smile.

“I’m sorry I missed it. I saw you guys on telly in Galbadia.”

“You and the whole world, Irvine,” Zell grumbled, taking a drink. The redhead laughed at him, leaning down to set his collection of liquor bottles on the floor by the wall. “Hey, since you brought it up,” Zell added a few moments later, as the thought occurred to him, “what happened to Dallia Caraway after the whole kidnapping fiasco? I’ve been avoiding the news like plague since I got back so I didn’t see any of the aftermath.”

“After the ball, you mean?” Irvine contemplated for a short while, stirring his whiskey with his finger. “I only know what I heard. They made up some BS story about committees and voting or something to fob off the whole Estharian Garden idea, but it’s obvious to anyone with half a brain that that was just a ruse in the first place. Dallia Caraway went quietly back to Esthar a few days after the ball and I haven’t heard much about her since.”

“I figured,” Zell said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He would have been more surprised if the whole thing didn’t get very quietly rolled under the rug, but really, he’d be even more surprised if it stayed under there. Dallia was a sorceress, and whether or not she was planning to admit to it like she had said, it would come out sooner or later. Zell just hoped he wasn’t going to be anywhere nearby when it did. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“What’s that?”

“You knew about Dallia being a sorceress, right? I mean, you knew for a while before we did,” Zell said. Irvine smirked.

“I didn’t know for sure until just now,” was his answer, and before Zell had time to wonder if he’d just made a huge faux pas in spilling that little secret to Irvine, the other man went on, “don’t worry, the secret’s safe with me. If it is a secret, which… well, we’ll see.”

“Okay, but how did you know?” The question had been nagging at Zell intermittently ever since he had learned the truth about Dallia, and realized that he had been right in thinking early on that his friend knew more than he was letting on. Irvine continued to smile.

“Like I said, I didn’t. I suspected for a long time, though. Probably since I first met her.”

“That’s what I don’t get,” Zell said, taking another drink and hoping he didn’t sound too accusatory; it really boggled him, however, that Irvine had very clearly seen what neither Seifer nor Zell had been able to. “Everybody liked her. Even you.”

“That’s true. She’s a smart, funny woman. A really amazing woman, to be honest,” Irvine said admiringly. Then he gave Zell a significant look, and added, “she had everybody charmed, including me. That’s what made me think…”

“That she’s amazing?” Zell asked, after Irvine failed to continue.

“She had everybody charmed,” Irvine said slowly, “everybody… except Seifer.”

“Well…” Zell was contemplative for a moment, as it started to dawn on him. “Okay, but… Seifer hates everyone.”

“That’s true, but it was way more than that. If she even went near him, he had this horribly repulsed look, like it was making him sick to have to stand by her. I bet he didn’t even realize it, did he?”

“No,” Zell admitted, remembering how stupid he had felt that they hadn’t seen Dallia for what she really was, when it should have been obvious. It wasn’t Dallia he should have been watching; it was the people she touched. Seifer had hated her with a passion from their very first meeting, long before she began giving them reasons to dislike her. And she really brought out the worst in him, so much so that even Seifer didn’t understand why he was acting the way he was. “Come to think of it, Matron wasn’t too keen on her either,” Zell said, sipping his drink. Irvine nodded in agreement.

“That’s when it sort of clicked for me. I asked Rinoa, and she said the same thing,” Irvine explained. “Something about Dallia made her uneasy, although I’m pretty sure she was pretending otherwise for her father’s sake. But it was obviously more than a coincidence that the three of them all felt the same way, when everyone else loved Dallia.”

“People who have been closest to sorceresses…” Zell mused. He went to take another drink, but the bottom of his glass was mainly ice now. He felt strangely morose, and it wasn’t because he’d been drinking. He should have seen what was going on between Dallia and Seifer, probably would have seen it if he hadn’t been so preoccupied with personal matters the whole time.

Irvine slapped him on the arm suddenly, jerking him out of his reverie. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it,” he said, as though he could tell what Zell had been thinking. “There’s something else I wanna talk about.”

“But, don’t you think-“

“Nope,” Irvine said. “Something else I wanna talk about.”

“Okay, what?”

“I took your advice,” the redhead declared proudly.

“About what?”

“About Selphie! You remember, last time we hung out,” Irvine said, nudging Zell playfully with his shoulder. Zell still had to think for a moment before he knew what the other man was talking about.

“Oh, right,” he said dully. The look Irvine was giving him said clearly that he was expecting more of a reaction, so Zell added, “and… how’d that go?”

“Not really sure yet, to be honest,” Irvine said, frowning a little. His expression was starting to look a little moony, and Zell knew what that meant. He went for the liquor bottles on the floor as Irvine continued, “I think I’m making progress, but it’s hard to say.”

“She’s avoiding you,” Zell said, stating the obvious, as he poured himself another drink. If Irvine was going to talk about Selphie, he’d need another one to make it through the conversation.

“Yeah. We went on a date,” was Irvine’s reply. Zell stood up a little too quickly, spilling whiskey all over himself.

“You what?”

“We went on a date.”

“You and Selphie went on a date?” Zell repeated.

“Yeah. I took her to Dollet. We had dinner and then we walked on the boardwalk until after dark.”

“Did she know it was a date?” Zell had to ask. Irvine sighed a little.

“No, not until I told her. Actually, I think she was trying really hard for it to not be a date,” the other man said, sounding glum. “I gave her this whole speech about how she’s more than just a friend to me and how I was afraid before but now I’m ready to take the next step, yada yada. It was actually really romantic, you know. We were on the beach and the stars were all out and stuff.”

“What was her response?” Zell asked, although he was pretty sure he already knew.

“Didn’t give me one,” Irvine said, with a laugh that didn’t in any way sound amused. “We went home and she pretended nothing happened. And has been avoiding me ever since.”

“Nothing really happened? You didn’t even get a kiss, or what…?”

“I thought she might slap me if I tried,” Irvine admitted, throwing back the rest of his drink.

“Irvine, that sounds like the opposite of progress.”

“You might think so,” the other man said thoughtfully, and he smiled a little, “but the way I see it, I must have made her nervous. I mean, she’s trying so hard to avoid the issue, so she must be thinking about it. And that’s progress, of a sort.”

Zell couldn’t help but laugh, which got him a dirty look from his friend. “That’s a really optimistic way to look at it,” he said, chuckling.

“Gotta have something to hang on to,” Irvine declared. “Whatever. I’ve been patient, I can keep being patient.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Irv, but I think you’re going to run out of patience before Selphie runs out of obstinance.”

“We’ll see,” Irvine replied, jabbing Zell with his elbow in a playful way. “Anyway, I wanted to fill you in so that you can talk me up if she comes to you. You know how she is, she’ll probably want everyone’s opinion before she even starts to think about making a decision.”

“What’s with everyone wanting me to be their fucking megaphone tonight?” Zell said grouchily, but Irvine had stopped listening. He busied himself with the bottles of liquor for a moment, and then made his way back toward the group in the middle of the room, flashing Zell a salute on his way out. Zell watched him slip easily into the small crowd of people who were dancing, although he wasn’t certain Selphie was among them. It was too dark to see very properly, but Zell thought he spied a head of feathered brown hair escaping in the other direction as Irvine approached. He didn’t know whether to be irritated by the ridiculous juvenility of her antics, or just laugh.

Then again, Irvine’s love life was an epic saga that Zell, Quistis, and Rinoa had been watching from the sidelines for years now; if things suddenly went easy for him, the whole situation would lose its entertainment value. Zell might dispense advice on occasion, and he was always ready at hand to listen to Irvine bellyache about his feelings, but when it came down to it, the cowboy needed to take charge of his own life. Watching the roller coaster that had been Irvine’s private life over the past few years was fun, but it was more satisfying to Zell to see his friend finally doing something progressive.

Must be something in the air, Zell thought, his mind wandering back to his burgeoning relationship with Seifer. After weeks of beating around the bush, they had made some real progress tonight - and Zell would give credit where credit was due, he wasn’t stingy; if it weren’t for Seifer coming to find him tonight, who knew how long their relationship might have stalled for? It wasn’t as if he had planned to keep avoiding Seifer just to make a point - Zell wasn’t that petty - but he had to be impressed by the other man having the initiative to seek him out when it was pretty clear that starting and maintaining an honest discourse was something Seifer was exceedingly bad at.

If Zell had been second-guessing his own sense in actually choosing to pursue a relationship with Seifer - and, to be entirely honest, he had been; because who in their right mind would pursue that? - the conversation he’d just had with Irvine had gone a long way toward setting him straight again. Irvine and Selphie’s childish refusal to move forward with their own stunted relationship might be fun to watch as a spectator, but Irvine’s constant griping was proof enough that it sucked to experience. That kind of scenario was exactly what Zell was desperate to avoid.

The only way to do that, as far as he could see, was to be totally honest with Seifer in all things, and hope Seifer would do the same - and Zell had to admit, it was easier in reality than it had been in his head. Zell was honest by nature, and the only real hurdle had been the crushing denial, but he’d leapt that one pretty clear by inviting Seifer into bed with him. The gunblader was a different story; he tended to keep things close to heart, and on top of that he had a bad habit of using dishonesty as a defense mechanism, which was irritating, even if Zell could usually see through it anyway. Still, he had potential. He was the one who sought Zell out tonight; he had said his piece without having to be prodded (too much, at least,) and he had gone so far as to admit he sucked at honesty.

I must be a good influence on him or something, Zell thought, which made him grin.

Midnight had come and gone before Zell decided it was probably safe to make his escape. Everybody was pretty drunk by that point - Zell was no exception; he’d been taking it easy the whole night, but there was only so much he could do when all of his friends were determined to pour liquor down his throat - and Quistis had been coerced into dancing with Irvine, which was a clear sign that the level of drunken insanity was about to skyrocket. That was Zell’s cue to exit, and he took the first opportunity while the others were preoccupied debating the pros and cons of a game of “never have I ever” to abandon his drink and make his way stealthily toward the nearest door. He didn’t quite make it, however.

“You hold it right there,” Selphie said sharply, materializing out of nowhere and snatching him by the back of his shirt as he was trying to ease the side door out of the ballroom open without catching anyone’s attention. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Dincht.”

“Oh, what’s that?” he said innocently, as though she weren’t giving him a look just then that implied she’d like to break some of his bones. His pasted-on cheerful smile was doing nothing to melt the frosty expression on her face.

“Are you trying to sneak away?”

“Just… wanted to get some fresh air,” Zell said lamely.

“Fresh air?” She pierced him with a skeptical gaze, as if fresh air was a highly suspicious thing to want. “You’re not going anywhere, buddy. I want to know what you and Irvine were talking about before.”

“Why?”

“What’s he telling people?” she said in a low tone, leaning close to Zell unsteadily. She was definitely drunk. “We’re not a couple, you know. Is he spreading stories about me?”

Zell felt a twinge of annoyance that had nothing to do with the fact that she wouldn’t let him leave. Sure, she was clearly drunker than a skunk, but that didn’t account for the harshness in her tone at that last remark. Selphie wasn’t an angry drunk - wasn’t angry at all, really. He grabbed her hand and pried her fingers loose from his shirt, although he continued to hold onto her arm, on the off chance that she might fall flat on her face if he didn’t. “Give him some credit,” Zell said coolly. “He was telling me about your date, that’s all.”

“It wasn’t a date!” Selphie hissed.

“Well, Irvine thought it was. Maybe your communication needs work,” was Zell’s reply.

“I know you’re the one who egged him on to do it,” she went on, now sounding accusatory. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t go giving him stupid advice like that, you know-“

“I didn’t egg him on,” Zell interrupted, starting to feel a little irritated at her allegations. “You’re not an idiot, Selph, so quit acting it. You know he’s been stupid in love with you for, like, ever. I was sick of watching him be miserable about it, so, yeah, I told him to man up. I wishyou would.”

Selphie stared at him in shock after this short speech. Zell himself was a little startled at his own curtness, but, well, maybe she deserved a good cold slap of reality - she was clearly in heavy denial about her own personal matters. Zell was feeling short-tempered; he was more than a little tipsy, and it had been a very long week… not to mention he was already late for a date with Seifer, and he wasn’t going to be held up any longer by getting further involved in Selphie and Irvine’s affairs. And why did everyone seem to think he wanted to be involved in their business, anyway?

To his horror, tears began to well up in the brunette’s eyes. God, she was really drunk. “Zell, that was mean,” she said huffily, slapping him on the shoulder with her other hand. This motion made her wobble, and Zell had to grab her with both hands to keep her standing.

“I’m not trying to be mean. But I wonder if you are,” he answered, giving her a pointed look that she almost certainly didn’t catch; her eyes were unfocused as she stared in the direction of Zell’s face. “You guys have been dancing around each other for years, don’t you think it’s time you moved forward?”

“I don’t want to move in any direction,” she whined, her whole face scrunched up into a frown. “I want things to be exactly the same way they’ve always been forever. Is that too much to ask?”

“Selphie,” Zell said, sighing deeply. He took a quick glance around to make sure they weren’t being watched, and then he maneuvered Selphie toward the door, shoving her less-than-gently into the corridor. She sat down against the wall, making quiet, depressed noises to herself. Zell crouched next to her.

“If that’s the way you want it, you’d better make it crystal clear to Irvine,” he said after a minute or two of quiet, giving Selphie some time to gather her wits. He really hoped she’d remember this conversation in the morning, or he was wasting his time giving her advice. Still, it wasn’t like he could just leave her there. “If you’re really not interested, I’m sure he’ll back off. But personally, I think you’re just scared and stubborn. You should give him a chance.”

If Selphie had been anywhere near sober, she probably would have whacked him a good one upside the head, but in her present state all she did was give a long, morose sigh. “Zell, you really don’t know anything,” she said eventually, with a little chortle as though the very notion of Zell giving her advice on this subject was ridiculous. What little was left of Zell’s patience with her vanished.

“Well, if that’s all,” he said brusquely, standing up to leave. Selphie lurched forward, grabbing the leg of his jeans - and she might have been tanked, but she was still as deceptively strong as when she was sober.

“Wait, you’re leaving?”

“You don’t seem to want my advice, so why should I stay?”

“You can’t go yet! The party’s just started!” she declared. Zell laughed at that.

“Sorry, I’ve got somewhere to be,” he said, trying to shake her free. She let go of his jeans, but the look she was giving him now was that of total bewilderment.

“Somewhere? Where could you possibly have to be at this hour?”

“Maybe you should just sit here for a while, until you feel better,” Zell suggested, watching with a faint sense of pity as Selphie tried to get to her feet. If he ran, she probably wouldn’t be able to follow him, but that might be a bit too cruel of him. He put a hand on her shoulder, and pushed her back onto the floor gently. “Selph, just sit here and clear your head for a bit. Think about what I said. It’ll probably sound better once you’ve sobered up.”

She grabbed his arm before he could stand up and walk away. “Oh, you’re not getting off that easy,” she said with a low chuckle. “What’s so important you’re ditching my reunion party for? I’m going to tell everyone you flaked out, you know.”

“I’ve got a date,” he said shortly, which evidently surprised her enough that she released her grip on him. Zell took advantage of the opportunity and walked away, giving her a jaunty wave as she stared at him, slack-jawed. “See you later, hope you feel better!”

She called after him, but it was too late; he was around the corner and walking fast away from the party. He didn’t bother to regret having said it; even if Selphie did tell anyone - and even if they weren’t too drunk to remember it tomorrow - it’s not like it would cause him any grief. Every other week he was rumored to be seeing someone or other; it would just be another rumor to add to the pile. And the next week, Garden would come up with something new to chew on, and forget all about Zell’s petty affairs.

Briefly, he wondered if he should just head home. It would be a dick move after promising Seifer he’d come by, but he was still drunker than he’d prefer to be dealing with the gunblader, and he was sure to get a good bitching for having kept Seifer waiting, too. But even before he had time to think about it, he remembered that kiss from earlier - the feeling of Seifer’s hands on him and the smell of his cologne - and that idea was shot. He’d had a week to linger on the memories of that night spent with Seifer, and all it had done was make him eager for more. And more and more.

This was bad. Already he was itching to be near Seifer again, to touch and taste and feel him, to commit every detail to memory. It was as bad as an addiction. What was worse, he was letting his impatience to get back to Seifer overrun his common sense - imagine blabbing to Selphie, of all people, that he was meeting someone in the middle of the night. He smiled anyway as he made his way through the dark hallways towards the boys’ dorms. If he was going to hell anyway, he might as well go down swinging, right?

~
- 22
- 23
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Mind Games