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Entry tags:
FFVIII: Love and Stuff
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Pairing: Seifer/Squall
Warnings: Sap
Rating: PG
Summary: Zell caught Squall having a secret relationship. For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
30_friends.
"Okay. That was weird."
"What?"
Zell leaned back in his seat, stuffing a bite of hotdog into his mouth thoughtfully. After a moment, with his mouth still mostly full, he came up with an answer that would have been coherent, if he wasn't spraying an unamused Squall with bits of hotdog and bread.
"Zell, don't..."
"Sorry," Zell mumbled, putting a hand over his mouth and making a valiant attempt to swallow it all whole. After he got done choking and swallowing and being hit on the back, he looked up at Squall, running a hand through his hair to spike it up properly. "Yeah, I was just saying... could've sworn I saw you with someone in an alleyway, 'bout half an hour ago, and suddenly here you are in Balamb. Not that there's a problem with that. But the someone looked like, well, Seifer."
Squall frowned. "Seifer?"
"Yeah, you know, Seifer Almasy?" Zell raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it wasn't me," Squall said, shrugging, but he looked uncommonly uncomfortable. And Zell was sure what he'd seen, really. That little unconscious squirm of Squall's sort of almost proved it. Except he wasn't sure it'd even been Squall, let alone Squall and Seifer.
"Okay. Whatever, baby. Just don't drag me into anything dirty."
Squall glared at Zell, crossing his arms in front of his chest and lowering his head a little so his bangs fell in front of his eyes. It'd've been a threatening look, but Zell was beyond any fear of Squall. Once you knew he wasn't really half so icy and cold, you sort of got used to his ways very quickly, and the nasty glare was something Zell especially had gotten very used to.
"Yeah, yeah," Zell said, in answer to that look, "I know. You have no idea what I'm talking about."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Squall muttered, picking up his coffee and curling his fingers around the warm paper cup. He huffed softly, making his bangs flutter up. "And even if I did, I'd probably have my reasons for hanging around with a convicted loser."
Zell had to laugh. "Convicted loser, huh?"
Squall shrugged, a laugh twinkling somewhere behind his eyes. "Yeah. It was proven that what he did during the war wasn't his fault, he was a puppet. But he's still the loser that got controlled by a sorceress, and lost the war."
"I guess."
Squall raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd just agree straight off."
"Oh, I do. Just distracted, that's all."
Squall gave him a very odd look, but Zell was sure by now that something was up. He wasn't sure if he had any right to mess around with it, or any right to snoop about at all, but the fact remained that Squall had met someone in an alleyway, as anyone could tell from his shirt, which was inside out. And if it was Seifer, that was a whole bundle of trouble Zell didn't even want to think about it.
Leaving the situation to Squall, since it was his own damned situation, after all, didn't even remotely occur to Zell, naturally.
-----
Sneaking out of Garden on Squall's heels was surprisingly easy. Obviously, Squall wasn't taking enough care. Or maybe he expected everyone to be good and stay in Garden. What-the-fuck-ever, Zell was on a mission. A mission to find out what the heck Squall was up to, sure, but it still counted. Sort of.
Anyway, it was far too easy to follow Squall. He seemed to be heading for Balamb town, so Zell took a long cut across country to reach the town entrance just as Squall walked down the street. Zell could be very quiet when he wanted to be, and Squall didn't check for anyone following him. Not, as Zell realised a moment later, that he would really expect anyone. It was, after all, his private life.
But still, Zell thought, he'd lied about being with Seifer, or someone who looked a hell of a lot like him, in an alleyway.
Zell stopped dead when he heard a murmur of conversation.
"Leonhart. You came."
"As if I'd stand you up."
The second voice, Zell felt quite sure, was Squall's. Of course, it was even softer than usual, a confidential tone, a... a tone for late night meetings with mysterious figures, really. The first voice might've been Seifer's, but it was kind of tender. Softer than Zell would've expected even for a secret meeting in the middle of the night.
"There's always a chance. I missed you."
"You only saw me earlier," Squall whispered. There was a laugh in his voice that startled Zell. "I can't stay long now. I have other things to do."
"Sure. All we got to do earlier was fuck. I sort of wanted to talk. And maybe," the voice turned teasing, "hold you."
Zell squinted a little. There was a streetlight between him and the two in the mouth of the alleyway. He couldn't go any closer. But he was pretty sure anyway. Nobody else would wear a trenchcoat, really. Not one like that. It was Seifer. And he was, in fact, holding Squall, arms wrapped around Squall's waist, Squall's head resting against his shoulder.
"Stupid asshole," Squall said, softly.
"Yeah, yeah, you say that every time."
"Doesn't make it any less true."
Zell bit his lip when he saw Squall raise his head and kiss Seifer. He was suddenly quite, quite sure that what was going on here was some kind of secret love affair, nothing more shady or silly than that. And sure, wasn't everyone allowed some secrets?
He suddenly felt rather stupid. After all, it wasn't like Seifer was still on the run. But Squall would still have his reasons to keep it secret. Probably to stop things like this happening where people assumed there was something else happening.
"When can I see you again?"
"It'll be a while," Squall sighed.
"You could just admit to the relationship. It's not like everyone will hate you for it, they all know that I was under Ultimecia's control, that I didn't have anything to do with the war, really..."
"You still have an image..."
"Squall, do you honestly care about that?"
Zell found himself unable to look away. It wasn't that he got off on watching people's private moments or anything, it was just incredibly strange to see Seifer being so soft and tender. Seifer was cupping Squall's cheek and kissing him, one of those really nice passionate kisses that Zell sorta hoped he'd find himself sharing with some girl someday.
Squall pulled away from Seifer a little, looking up into his eyes. "No. I... I love you."
Zell hurried away after that. He thought he'd definitely seen enough, a little too much, a lot too much. Squall's private life was, after all, well, private.
-----
Zell looked down at the tabletop when he spotted Squall coming over and quickly stuffed some hotdog into his mouth. He knew that'd make him look guilty, if Squall suspected at all, but it was quite embarrassing to realise that despite everything he'd still believe Squall incapable of love, and had preferred to pin him with some vague crime than believe he might be in love with Seifer.
"Zell."
"Yeah?" He looked up and spoke with his mouth full, just a little too quickly, and winced at how obvious he was being.
"I know you were there."
"Huh?"
"Last night."
"Oh."
Squall pulled out a chair opposite Zell and sat down with a little squeak of leather and a clink of metal. He stared at the tabletop much as Zell had been doing, shrugging slightly. "I knew you were following me. I'm not ashamed of him, Zell."
"I... I never thought you were! I just... I had no idea what was going on! I just knew you were lying to me, keeping secrets!"
"Would you tell the world if you were me and you were dating Seifer?"
Zell thought about it for a moment. Honestly, he thought he would. Particularly considering the way he'd seen them both, soft and tender and ever so in love. It's not like that was anything to be ashamed of, and like Seifer said, no one could still blame him for the war. It'd all been sorceresses struggles, and Seifer'd been as much a victim as any of those now dead.
"Yeah. I mean... you love each other, right? So what's wrong with that?"
"Zell..."
There was a rather surprised look in Squall's eyes. As if it wasn't going at all the way he expected. Zell properly cleared his mouth, swallowing down a last lump of bread and sausage, and tipped his chair back a bit. "You two are in love, Seifer is innocent anyway, and people think you're a chunk of living ice. You get to be together, nobody blames you, and people actually get to see the hero being human."
"But..."
"Squall," Zell leaned closer, suddenly serious, "he loves you. Even I can tell that. And you love him. So fuck 'em all. Besides, secrets and lies are never good. It's not like you have to make a big public announcement."
Squall stared at the tabletop for a moment longer. Then he raised his eyes to meet Zell's, almost shyly, smiling just a tiny bit. "Zell. Thank you."
"No problem, baby," Zell grinned.
Pairing: Seifer/Squall
Warnings: Sap
Rating: PG
Summary: Zell caught Squall having a secret relationship. For
30_friends."Okay. That was weird."
"What?"
Zell leaned back in his seat, stuffing a bite of hotdog into his mouth thoughtfully. After a moment, with his mouth still mostly full, he came up with an answer that would have been coherent, if he wasn't spraying an unamused Squall with bits of hotdog and bread.
"Zell, don't..."
"Sorry," Zell mumbled, putting a hand over his mouth and making a valiant attempt to swallow it all whole. After he got done choking and swallowing and being hit on the back, he looked up at Squall, running a hand through his hair to spike it up properly. "Yeah, I was just saying... could've sworn I saw you with someone in an alleyway, 'bout half an hour ago, and suddenly here you are in Balamb. Not that there's a problem with that. But the someone looked like, well, Seifer."
Squall frowned. "Seifer?"
"Yeah, you know, Seifer Almasy?" Zell raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it wasn't me," Squall said, shrugging, but he looked uncommonly uncomfortable. And Zell was sure what he'd seen, really. That little unconscious squirm of Squall's sort of almost proved it. Except he wasn't sure it'd even been Squall, let alone Squall and Seifer.
"Okay. Whatever, baby. Just don't drag me into anything dirty."
Squall glared at Zell, crossing his arms in front of his chest and lowering his head a little so his bangs fell in front of his eyes. It'd've been a threatening look, but Zell was beyond any fear of Squall. Once you knew he wasn't really half so icy and cold, you sort of got used to his ways very quickly, and the nasty glare was something Zell especially had gotten very used to.
"Yeah, yeah," Zell said, in answer to that look, "I know. You have no idea what I'm talking about."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Squall muttered, picking up his coffee and curling his fingers around the warm paper cup. He huffed softly, making his bangs flutter up. "And even if I did, I'd probably have my reasons for hanging around with a convicted loser."
Zell had to laugh. "Convicted loser, huh?"
Squall shrugged, a laugh twinkling somewhere behind his eyes. "Yeah. It was proven that what he did during the war wasn't his fault, he was a puppet. But he's still the loser that got controlled by a sorceress, and lost the war."
"I guess."
Squall raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd just agree straight off."
"Oh, I do. Just distracted, that's all."
Squall gave him a very odd look, but Zell was sure by now that something was up. He wasn't sure if he had any right to mess around with it, or any right to snoop about at all, but the fact remained that Squall had met someone in an alleyway, as anyone could tell from his shirt, which was inside out. And if it was Seifer, that was a whole bundle of trouble Zell didn't even want to think about it.
Leaving the situation to Squall, since it was his own damned situation, after all, didn't even remotely occur to Zell, naturally.
Sneaking out of Garden on Squall's heels was surprisingly easy. Obviously, Squall wasn't taking enough care. Or maybe he expected everyone to be good and stay in Garden. What-the-fuck-ever, Zell was on a mission. A mission to find out what the heck Squall was up to, sure, but it still counted. Sort of.
Anyway, it was far too easy to follow Squall. He seemed to be heading for Balamb town, so Zell took a long cut across country to reach the town entrance just as Squall walked down the street. Zell could be very quiet when he wanted to be, and Squall didn't check for anyone following him. Not, as Zell realised a moment later, that he would really expect anyone. It was, after all, his private life.
But still, Zell thought, he'd lied about being with Seifer, or someone who looked a hell of a lot like him, in an alleyway.
Zell stopped dead when he heard a murmur of conversation.
"Leonhart. You came."
"As if I'd stand you up."
The second voice, Zell felt quite sure, was Squall's. Of course, it was even softer than usual, a confidential tone, a... a tone for late night meetings with mysterious figures, really. The first voice might've been Seifer's, but it was kind of tender. Softer than Zell would've expected even for a secret meeting in the middle of the night.
"There's always a chance. I missed you."
"You only saw me earlier," Squall whispered. There was a laugh in his voice that startled Zell. "I can't stay long now. I have other things to do."
"Sure. All we got to do earlier was fuck. I sort of wanted to talk. And maybe," the voice turned teasing, "hold you."
Zell squinted a little. There was a streetlight between him and the two in the mouth of the alleyway. He couldn't go any closer. But he was pretty sure anyway. Nobody else would wear a trenchcoat, really. Not one like that. It was Seifer. And he was, in fact, holding Squall, arms wrapped around Squall's waist, Squall's head resting against his shoulder.
"Stupid asshole," Squall said, softly.
"Yeah, yeah, you say that every time."
"Doesn't make it any less true."
Zell bit his lip when he saw Squall raise his head and kiss Seifer. He was suddenly quite, quite sure that what was going on here was some kind of secret love affair, nothing more shady or silly than that. And sure, wasn't everyone allowed some secrets?
He suddenly felt rather stupid. After all, it wasn't like Seifer was still on the run. But Squall would still have his reasons to keep it secret. Probably to stop things like this happening where people assumed there was something else happening.
"When can I see you again?"
"It'll be a while," Squall sighed.
"You could just admit to the relationship. It's not like everyone will hate you for it, they all know that I was under Ultimecia's control, that I didn't have anything to do with the war, really..."
"You still have an image..."
"Squall, do you honestly care about that?"
Zell found himself unable to look away. It wasn't that he got off on watching people's private moments or anything, it was just incredibly strange to see Seifer being so soft and tender. Seifer was cupping Squall's cheek and kissing him, one of those really nice passionate kisses that Zell sorta hoped he'd find himself sharing with some girl someday.
Squall pulled away from Seifer a little, looking up into his eyes. "No. I... I love you."
Zell hurried away after that. He thought he'd definitely seen enough, a little too much, a lot too much. Squall's private life was, after all, well, private.
Zell looked down at the tabletop when he spotted Squall coming over and quickly stuffed some hotdog into his mouth. He knew that'd make him look guilty, if Squall suspected at all, but it was quite embarrassing to realise that despite everything he'd still believe Squall incapable of love, and had preferred to pin him with some vague crime than believe he might be in love with Seifer.
"Zell."
"Yeah?" He looked up and spoke with his mouth full, just a little too quickly, and winced at how obvious he was being.
"I know you were there."
"Huh?"
"Last night."
"Oh."
Squall pulled out a chair opposite Zell and sat down with a little squeak of leather and a clink of metal. He stared at the tabletop much as Zell had been doing, shrugging slightly. "I knew you were following me. I'm not ashamed of him, Zell."
"I... I never thought you were! I just... I had no idea what was going on! I just knew you were lying to me, keeping secrets!"
"Would you tell the world if you were me and you were dating Seifer?"
Zell thought about it for a moment. Honestly, he thought he would. Particularly considering the way he'd seen them both, soft and tender and ever so in love. It's not like that was anything to be ashamed of, and like Seifer said, no one could still blame him for the war. It'd all been sorceresses struggles, and Seifer'd been as much a victim as any of those now dead.
"Yeah. I mean... you love each other, right? So what's wrong with that?"
"Zell..."
There was a rather surprised look in Squall's eyes. As if it wasn't going at all the way he expected. Zell properly cleared his mouth, swallowing down a last lump of bread and sausage, and tipped his chair back a bit. "You two are in love, Seifer is innocent anyway, and people think you're a chunk of living ice. You get to be together, nobody blames you, and people actually get to see the hero being human."
"But..."
"Squall," Zell leaned closer, suddenly serious, "he loves you. Even I can tell that. And you love him. So fuck 'em all. Besides, secrets and lies are never good. It's not like you have to make a big public announcement."
Squall stared at the tabletop for a moment longer. Then he raised his eyes to meet Zell's, almost shyly, smiling just a tiny bit. "Zell. Thank you."
"No problem, baby," Zell grinned.
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