![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
FFVIII: Origins (10)
Pairing: Irvine/Selphie, Quistis/Rinoa, Seifer/Squall
Warnings: Sap
Chapter: Ten
Rating: PG13
Summary: They visit the beach, a monster attacks Squall, and everyone is happy at the end of the day.
“Whoa, that’s hot.”
“Hey!
“I’m just observing a fact, angel,”
Quistis’ legs are, pretty much, one of the best examples of their kind.
She rolls her eyes at
Rinoa smirks. Or, well, more accurately, she tries to smirk, in what is obviously an imitation of Seifer. It doesn’t quite work, on a pretty face like hers. “Yeah, I’ll set Angelo on you if you come too close.”
Seifer raises an eyebrow. “Where is that mutt?”
“Back in Timber,” she admits, cheerfully, “but I can always set him on you whenever he’s next along for the ride to Balamb.”
“Better start quivering now, Kinneas,” Seifer observes, flopping back into the sand.
Squall tries to be subtle about eyeing him. It’s bad enough when he’s fully dressed, but when he’s wearing very, very little – as is customary on a beach – it’s near unbearable. Squall, of course, hasn’t given in to the heat and the threat of impending sand – yet. Sooner or later, he knows he’s going to end up wearing just swimming trunks.
But not yet.
Rinoa gives him a significant look and turns to grab a beach ball that someone had – suspiciously – packed, despite the lack of plans to go to the beach during the vacation. “Anyone want to play?”
Squall shakes his head, flopping down next to Seifer, moving back just a little into the relative shade of some rocks. Seifer looks up at him, decides that’s a very good idea, and moves to sit next to him.
“You’re all sandy.”
“The sand is sticking to my sun block lotion.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You burn?”
“Like a candle. Okay, that’s a bad analogy, but yeah. I turn red. Think tomatoes.”
Squall snorts softly. “I almost want to see that, just so I can make fun of you for it.”
“Do and I’ll cut you,” Seifer says, lazily. He shifts slightly, moving closer to Squall and resting his head against his shoulder, yawning quietly. “You’re comfortable.”
“Glad to know I’m good for something.”
In reality, he kind of is. Or, well, really, he’s glad that Seifer feels comfortable enough with him to banter a little, to move up close to him and lean against him like that. It’s a great effort of will that keeps him from wrapping his arms around Seifer and kissing him hard. The only reason he still resists is because Rinoa keeps glancing round at them expectantly and he really doesn’t want her to have any way to say I told you so. In his mind, at least, that phrase is the single most annoying thing in any language and no matter how nicely it’s disguised.
“I think I’m going to go to sleep,” Seifer says, not moving, closing his eyes. Squall stays still and doesn’t try to dislodge Seifer, smiling a little to himself and looking up to watch the game being played. As far as he can tell, Selphie,
“I think Seifer and Squall might finally get together,” Rinoa says breathlessly to Selphie as she tackles her to grab the ball, both of them falling down into the sand.
“About time!” Selphie says, grinning, wrestling the ball back from her and throwing it to Zell. Quistis jumps up and catches it, waiting until Rinoa rolls to her feet to throw it her way.
“You’re using your height against me,” Zell accuses, giving Quistis a mock-hurt look.
She just smiles sweetly, grabbing the ball when Rinoa tosses it back to her. “There’s no rule against it.”
“It’s unfair! And,” he says, even more accusingly, “you’re a girl, so I can’t attack you like I would
“Tough luck,” Quistis says, smiling even more sweetly.
It’s too hot to play for long, of course, and then all the usual things that happen at a beach, well, happen. Selphie builds a sandcastle and then insists on burying Zell,
“I never went to the beach enough when I was a kid,” she says, by way of explanation, slapping another dollop of rather cold, wettish sand onto Zell’s stomach and grinning mischievously when he curses at her. “Not after my mother died. My dad was, well, we didn’t see eye to eye and he didn’t like the idea of me mucking around in the sand with all the peasants.”
“And you let that stop you?”
“When I was thirteen, yeah.”
At some point, though, the fun and games slow down even more and she sneaks back up the beach to see how Seifer and Squall are doing – supposedly just to check on them, although she has to admit there’s an element of wanting to see them finally kissing. She’s not sure if she should be pleased or disappointed to see them simply more or less cuddling, both asleep.
She decides it’s cute and therefore pleasing and goes back to report to the others.
“They sound so cute,” Selphie says, grinning as she dumps a bucketful of sand over Zell, who has just about got used to the fact that no matter how he bitches, whines and protests, and no matter how often he shakes it all off, he’s going to get buried in sand eventually.
“I think they’re going to work out.”
“I think I don’t want to think about it.”
Selphie pats Zell on the head. “Shush, you.”
---
When Seifer wakes up, he really isn’t in a hurry to move. He knows that Squall is awake, and knows that Squall knows he’s awake, but he still isn’t in the mood to move. Mostly because somehow, while he was asleep, possibly while Squall was asleep too, Squall’s arm slipped around him.
Unfortunately, when he realises Seifer’s awake, Squall eases away from him with an apologetic smile. It’s later, now, and the rocks are giving considerably more shade, and so Squall stretches out full length in it, looking oddly comfortable there on the sand for someone who will, no doubt, be showering multiple times to get sand out of his hair later on. Seifer watches him, thinking that the only way the view could be better would be if Squall was wearing significantly fewer clothes.
After a moment, Seifer’s little wish comes true. Squall huffs softly, gets up and hauls his shirt off, undoing his belts and shimmying his way out of his pants as well to reveal the fact that despite protesting that he doesn’t have anything to wear on the beach when Rinoa scolded him for being overly dressed, he is in fact wearing a pair of swimming trunks. Seifer would love to be able to tease him about them, but they’re depressingly plain and practical.
“Too hot,” Squall says in explanation, noticing Seifer’s eyes on him. Seifer nods slightly, wishing he could make some comment – even a dumb ass one like the temperature isn’t the only hot thing around here…
He wishes, too, that he could look away and stop being so embarrassingly teenage about the whole issue of his massive crush on Squall. He thought he’d grow out of crushes eventually, but realises by now that he was sadly mistaken. And this particular crush seems determined to haunt him all his life – he remembers thinking, in a vague, kiddish way, that Squall was pretty, even all the way back in the Orphanage.
And he’s only gotten more alluring.
He smirks a little when he notices Squall closing his eyes as if to go to sleep again. “You shouldn’t sleep on the beach, you know. You should know that, being a grand high commander of SeeDs and all.”
Squall opens one eye, looks at him and then closes his eye again. “I only see one monster, and it isn’t interested in me.”
Seifer raises an eyebrow, moving a little closer – trying to be subtle, though betrayed by the shifting of the sand and the fact that he really never was good with the whole stealth thing. “How do you know? Some monsters are really… devious. They never let on that they’re interested and then, suddenly, bam, they’re trying to eat you.”
Squall keeps his eyes closed.
“Maybe,” Seifer says, giving up on subtlety and moving so that he’s got Squall trapped – knees either side of his body, hands either side of his head. He leans down a little, knowing that Squall is evaluating the situation, deciding what to say, deciding whether to keep playing along. “Maybe, just maybe, it wants you to think it’s not interested for… reasons of its own. But all the while it’s sneaking up, getting closer…”
Squall opens his eyes, looking up at him almost expectantly. He smirks a little and leans a little more, brushing his lips over Squall’s jaw and then nipping lightly, kissing at his neck.
“And when you think you’re safe, it pounces and, well, eats you.”
“Quit playing games and kiss me properly or back off,” Squall whispers, when Seifer pulls back a little and their faces are so close he can feel Squall’s breath. “Don’t play around with me.”
He pulls back a little more, giving Squall a confused look. “Why the fuck would I be playing? I’ve wanted to kiss you for, fuck, years.”
“So kiss me.”
For once, Seifer follows the order without even bothering to question it. He closes his eyes and kisses Squall firmly, eagerly, deepening the kiss as Squall reaches up to wrap his arms around his neck. It’d be stupid to try concealing his emotions, so he doesn’t bother, doing his best to show them instead, making the kiss tender and sweet and still just a little tentative.
He pulls back after a moment and takes a deep breath. “Nice enough to try again?”
Squall makes a face at him. “Why exactly did you stop?”
He has to laugh at that. And he has to kiss Squall again, this time more deeply, pressing against him and pushing his tongue into his mouth, feeling him yield and almost cling, pressing closer. Squall makes a soft noise as he pulls back a little, not a whimper but still suspiciously close to one, and Seifer kisses him again, and then again, little soft kisses one after another that leave them both just wanting more.
“Are you doing this because Rinoa nagged you to?”
“I’m doing this because I want to, idiot.”
“She hasn’t nagged you?”
He snorts softly. “Only ten times every day.”
He kisses Squall again to keep him from saying anything else spectacularly stupid, moving in a quick roll so that Squall is draped over him instead of the other way round. Not that he thinks Squall is fragile, but he also knows that he isn’t exactly as light as a feather.
The weight is all muscle, of course.
It’d be pretty much perfect, in Seifer’s view, if they could just lay there all day in the comfortable shade. Squall fits well into his arms, smelling of generic shop brand shampoo and the sun block lotion Seifer slathered so liberally all over himself. He’s pretty sure that Squall would find it perfect, too, but he hasn’t yet stopped kissing him yet to compare notes.
It’d be pretty much perfect if Rinoa didn’t come sprinting up the beach, shouting their names. Squall kisses Seifer one more time and rolls off him – ignoring Seifer’s attempts to keep hold of him. Rinoa, however, didn’t miss the part where they were kissing.
“Finally,” she says, sounding more than a little out of breath. Squall is sort of glad for that – it means she can’t go off on a rant about how cute they are and how she told them so.
“What’re you disturbing us for, exactly?” Seifer asks, somewhat peevishly.
She makes a face at him. “It’s time to go, you’ve been laying around here practically all day. I’m surprised you got anything constructive done.”
“I survived a monster attack,” Squall says, dryly. He and Seifer share a look that makes Rinoa grin with happiness.
“I knew the two of you would get together, I knew it!”
“You know,” Seifer says, to no one in particular. “The words ‘I told you so’ have to be the most annoying words in any language.”
Rinoa lets that pass harmlessly over her head.
“You two need to be ready to go in ten minutes. No prolonged making out, ‘kay? We’ll meet you back at the cars.”
Squall reaches for his clothes and Seifer resists the urge to be childish and pout. “Okay. We’ll be there.”
Rinoa runs off again.
“The others will all know within seconds,” Squall says, almost gloomily, as he pulls his shirt on. Seifer snorts softly and grabs a handful of the shirt, yanking Squall closer and kissing him hard.
“One, who cares? And two, they probably had a decent idea anyway.”
“Probably,” Squall says, thinking of the significant looks Selphie has been constantly giving him lately whenever he’s been alone with Seifer.
“I want them to know, anyway.”
Squall raises an eyebrow. Seifer grins, kissing him again and taking his time over it, nipping and tugging lightly at his lip.
“You’re beautiful, you’re mine, and no one else is ever laying hands on you.”
Squall smirks, just a little. “How do you know I’m not going to make you my bitch?”
---
It’s been a peaceful night, aside from the sound of headboards banging against walls for much of it. They chose a decent hotel to stay in on their way back, but unfortunately the walls are rather thin and they did away with having the girls in one room and the boys in the other. Rinoa is more comfortable than she remembers being in a while, tangled up in the covers and in Quistis, running her fingers through Quistis’ hair carefully.
“Happy?” she asks, and Quistis makes a sleepy noise, snuggling against her a little more. She takes that as a yes, smiling and stroking Quistis’ hair, smoothing it out, amused at how tousled it can get in a relatively short period of time in bed. She speaks more thoughtfully, now, almost thinking aloud. “I’m happy. I’m happy all of this happened.”
“If it hadn’t, we probably wouldn’t be together,” Quistis agrees.
“We might have ended up together somehow.”
“I don’t exactly trust my luck, though.”
She smiles, kissing Quistis softly. “You think you’re lucky?”
Quistis raises an eyebrow, waking up a little and sitting up a bit to comb her fingers through her own hair, sorting it out and then reaching for a hair tie to put it up out of her way. She disentangles herself from Rinoa a little in the process, looking down at her expression with a smile of her own. “I’ve got what I wanted, haven’t I?”
“I hope so.”
“All of us got something we wanted on this trip, I think,” Quistis says, thoughtfully.
“Except maybe Zell.”
Quistis hmms softly in thought. She hasn’t spoken to Zell about it much, but she doesn’t get the feeling that he regrets finding things out all that much – not now he’s thought about it, anyway. It needed thinking about, and he had to come to terms with it, but from what she can tell it hasn’t damaged him any, at least. He seems just the same Zell as always now he’s had time to think things through and muddle his own way through the implications. She thinks the knowing makes him that much more complete – as knowing about her own mother makes her feel that little bit more complete.
“I don’t think he minds that much,” she says, finally. “He doesn’t have to like his father to have found the experience useful somehow, at least. And I think he has learnt something from all this, even if it’s just, you know, be thankful for what you’ve got.”
“I suppose.”
“Still, you’re right. Everyone else got what they wanted more than Zell did. I got you, you got me, I found out about my mother and met my father… Seifer found out more about his parents and he and Squall found each other. Found each other as in finally noticed what was under their noses the whole time…”
Rinoa laughs. “You were sceptical about my plans for getting them together.”
“Only because they’re so stubborn,” Quistis says, shrugging. She settles back down, snuggling close to Rinoa and wrapping her arms tightly around her. “
“We all had fun. That’s the important part.”
“Yeah.” Quistis swallows a yawn and hugs Rinoa a little tighter. “Go to sleep.”
Rinoa laughs a little, curling up closer to Quistis and obediently falling silent, though she doesn’t want to sleep just yet. She wants to appreciate exactly what she has a little first. Count her blessings, so to speak.
In the next room,
“I’m sure. Everyone else is happy and it wouldn’t be fair to keep Squall away from work. He’s gone cold turkey for a while, but…”
“Of course. Seifer might prove to be a distraction for him, I suppose, but…”
“Hopefully, Xu has things under control, so he can’t immediately disappear under a heap of paperwork.”
Selphie snorts at the mental image, stretching out in the bed and making an impatient noise at how long
“I’m nearly done,”
He laughs a little when he finally gets done untangling his hair and tying it back and can actually go to bed. He thinks it’s ironic that Selphie, the skinny and small one, takes up more room than he does with all his six feet of height and his broad shoulders.
“Comfy?” he asks, when she’s settled against him.
“Perfect,” she mumbles, and closes her eyes – falling asleep almost straight away.
Squall is only half awake or less. Seifer is still wide awake, though he doesn’t want to move, finding it just perfect right where he is. Squall is snuggled up against him, arms tightly around his waist, cheek resting on his chest. He’s soothed mostly by the slow rhythm of Seifer’s heart, the slow in and out of his breath, and the way Seifer is stroking his hair, running his fingers through it in tiny, repetitive motions.
Seifer wants to say all kinds of things to Squall. Now, however, doesn’t seem quite the time. Seifer has always thought that some things need to be said in a special way, at a special time, and that he’ll know when the right moment is. All moments kind of feel like the right time right now, so Seifer’s going to wait until he can be a real sap about it, instead of telling Squall while he’s half asleep and lazy.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Squall asks, yawning softly. Seifer shakes his head.
“Not right now. I’m not sleepy.”
Another yawn. “Why not?”
“I’m just not. Go to sleep.”
Squall nods slightly, pushing up a little to kiss Seifer. Softly, at first, gently, so that Seifer closes his eyes and makes a tiny noise of contentment. Then a little more firmly, as Seifer wraps his arms around Squall and holds him tightly. Finally, he pulls away, biting gently at his lower lip. “Goodnight,” he whispers.
“Sweet dreams.”
Seifer still doesn’t sleep, even when Squall has relaxed right into dream land there in his arms, head on his chest again. It’s not that he doesn’t want to sleep in case he wakes up and it was all a dream or anything, though he’s felt as if it’s too good to be true all day. It’s not that he’s not used to sharing his bed, though that’s part of it. It’s just that he’s perfectly happy to lay there with his arms wrapped tightly around Squall, doing nothing but hold him and think about him and think about all the feelings he has for him and how he should really get around to telling him about those soon.
“We’ll be back in Garden, tomorrow,” he says, to his sleeping boyfriend. “You’d better not start ignoring me in favour of work the minute we get back.”
Squall makes a sleepy noise, snuggling closer. Seifer takes that as a promise not to.