Let Me Make It Alright
Chapter 21: Showtime
By Angry Angel
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Final Fantasy series. They belong to Squaresoft.
Let Me Make It Alright
Chapter 21: Showtime
By Angry Angel
"No, watch the plant! Irvine! IRVINE!!"
Zell Dincht squealed at the sound of delicate china shattering against hard marble. As a result, he dropped the box with Seifer's personal belongings he was carrying, jumping at the sound of more glass breaking.
Irvine Kinneas wasn't doing much better. His hands slipped off his side of the metal bedframe they had been carrying and he skidded away in horror. Unfortunately, Seifer was still holding on to the other end, and he cursed rather loudly when his arms were almost yanked out of their sockets.
"You fuckin' morons!!"
He glared at the mess of smashed up glass and porcelain on the floor. Sure, the plant hadn't been his, it was one of the pots carefully positioned in the Garden hallways as decoration, but all the other things that Zell had managed to wreck had been his and his alone.
"That's grand, chickenwuss, thanks for ruining my favorite pair of shades!"
He sunk to his knees edgily and picked the debris of his things back into their box. Zell looked down at him in both anger and guilt.
"Sorry," he mumbled contritely.
"Sorry my ass."
He stood back up and shoved the box into Zell's hands, growling like a predator. Zell had to resist the urge to flinch away again, which, obviously, would have resulted in another disaster.
"There, hope you can carry it the last five metres without dropping it again."
He snorted before turning to the broken plant. Somehow, Irvine had managed to steer the foot of the bed right into a large pot that anyone not visually disabled would have been able to stay clear from. Sure, positioning that thing right next to Squall's door had probably not been the wisest of choices, nonetheless, it was nothing short of stupid.
"Ah, whatever, we'll clean that up later," he huffed and turned to Irvine. "Kinneas. Bed."
The cowboy eyed him suspiciously.
"You've been around that Fujin woman too long, man."
Seifer's eyes narrowed to slits of emerald, and Irvine realized right away that he had made a mistake.
"Do you want me to surgically remove that ludicrous cowboy hat of your's and your useless head right along with it?"
Irvine gulped at the murderous expression on Seifer's tanned face and jumped to grasp his side of the bedframe again immediately. The blond gunblader smirked with pleasure.
"Yeah, didn't think so."
They managed to maneuver the bed into Squall's room after all, this time without shattering anything else. They had already made a few trips prior to that one, moving all of Seifer's clothes and his desk. Seifer had been awestruck by the unnaturally clean state of the apartment, but he had blamed it on Squall's sense of perfection.
Arduously, they cleared a spot right across from Squall's bed and pushed Seifer's into place. While Irvine rubbed his aching arms, Seifer looked around the room in satisfaction. The commander's apartment was much bigger than his. He had a bathroom, a large living-bed-room combination and an open counter kitchen. Seifer had already given the place a "personal touch" by throwing his trenchcoat over a chair and scattering his clothes all over Squall's couch and bed. He did have plans of cleaning up before the brunet's arrival, though. It wasn't like Squall hadn't already blown a few fuses at the mere concept of rooming with anyone, let alone Seifer. No need to anger him any further any time soon.
"Was this all?" Zell asked hopefully.
"Think so."
Seifer glanced around once more, then decided to give Squall's fridge a try as his throat was dry as sand. His eyes widened at the content, though.
He counted exactly one apple, two bottles of juice and a dull looking piece of unidentified something... he guessed it to be cheese, but he wouldn't have betted his life on it.
'Gee, no wonder he looks like the damned hospital bedspread. This isn't exactly what I'd call nutritious.'
"We're gonna need some groceries..." he started slowly, still staring at the open void blankly.
Zell peeked past him into the fridge and let out an acknowledging whistle.
"Wow. He's been splurging."
"No kidding."
"I'm gonna get you guys some groceries. Quistis and I need some, too, anyway."
Seifer cocked an eyebrow at the smaller blond. Zell had been awfully nice to him, just distracted from his new course every now and then by Seifer's jeering comments.
"Okay... thanks."
Zell smirked playfully and bounced back towards Irvine.
"Well, I guess we are done here," the cowboy sighed, "I am in the cafeteria if you need anything."
"I'll bring those groceries later."
The tall gunblader nodded at both of them in a gesture of gratitude and understanding before they left him alone with Squall's things.
'Hmph. Let's see what other wonders this place holds.'
Hours later, he had cleaned the hallway, finished stuffing his clothes into an empty closet and placed his toilet articles in the bathroom. Zell had even stopped by briefly to drop off a pair of paper bags with the promised groceries, so Squall's fridge and kitchen cabinets were actually looking quite satisfying.
He helped himself to an apple, a fresh one of course, and let himself flop into one of the chairs around the dining table. Glancing at the clock, he realized that there was still some time left before he was supposed to pick Squall up at the infirmary.
Chewing on the tangy fruit lazily, he recalled the previous night, when Cid and Quistis had proposed their plan to Squall...
~~~~Flashback~~~~
"That's a joke, right?"
Squall's eyes were burning with disbelief and slowly boiling anger, casting deadly looks at Seifer, Quistis, Cid and doctor Kadowaki.
"It's the best solution, Squall," Cid tried to soothe him, but to no avail.
"That's bullshit, I am not a child anymore, I don't need to room with anyone, I can take care of myself!"
The four exchanged knowing glances, perfectly aware of the fact that Squall was anything but capable of caring for himself on his own. Not in his momentary condition, anyway.
"Look, Squall, I can't let you out of here just yet without being under someone's supervision," Kadowaki tried.
"Supervision?!" Squall's croaky voice almost stumbled over the word in sheer fury.
Seifer sighed in exasperation. He had known what the scenario would look like, he wasn't the slightest bit surprised. But of course, the others in their illusionary fit of brilliance hadn't wanted to listen to him. Well, he was going to keep his mouth shut, should Quistis and Cid handle the situation. They had brought this onto him and themselves after all.
"Look, Squall, you only have one choice. Either you stay here until you are well again, or you go and room with Seifer for a while until your wounds have fully healed and your strength has returned."
"Come on, Squall," Quistis added hopefully, "I know you don't want to stay here."
"Up your's, Quistis!" Squall snapped back hotly.
"Squall..."
Her eyes almost popped out of her sockets, causing Seifer to give a rasp chuckle.
'This is almost hilarious.'
"Squall, no matter how much you hate the idea, it's your only option. You are still sick, and doctor Kadowaki is going to keep you here if you don't agree into rooming with Seifer. So, since I am aware that you don't want to be strung to this bed any longer, I think we both know what you should choose, correct?" Cid smiled.
The brunet blinked angrily at the former director, then his steely gaze slid to Seifer. For a moment, they just stared at each other, and Seifer even forgot to flash his trademark smirk. Squall returned his focus to his blanket, his hands clutching the sheet so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"Whatever," he hissed sourly.
"Is that a yes?"
Squall's snowy features twitched and his gaze darkened, but finally, he managed to choke out a nod.
"Yes."
~~~~Flashback End~~~~
Seifer tossed his apple core into the nearest trash can. Laying in his chair, balancing it on the backmost legs, he decided that breaking the news to Squall hadn't been that bad, after all. He had expected a little more resistance, if futile. Then again, it wasn't like he had been any harder to convince than the brunet.
Somehow, they had both ended up being blackmailed into the same boat. And apparently, it was time to get rowing.
Mere two hours later, Seifer walked around the room with just a towel draped around his waist, rubbing his hair dry after a long, hot shower and casting an intruiging glance at Squall's TV and his movie collection. Some old Timber productions, dragon movies and historical documentations.
'Oh, brother. Well, it wasn't like I was expecting any tear-jerkers or porn flicks. This is just about enough to make me gag, though.'
He shook his head and decided that he'd have to pay the Garden's movie rental place a visit. No matter how bad things would get, he'd rather be found dead than watching a movie on "Stultz Jenkins, 97th president of Deling City."
Sighing, he slipped into a pair of baggy light brown pants and a black long sleeved t-shirt. Smoothing back his hair and brushing his teeth in the bathroom, he wondered what it would be like to room with good old Leonhart. He paused for a moment, toothbrush stuck in his mouth, then spat out in the sink.
'Hell.'
He washed out his mouth before he went into the living-room and grabbed the spare key card he had gotten from director Cid. A last look around the room left him with the feeling that it really wasn't all that bad, all his things were pretty unobtrusive, before he walked out the door and locked it with a flick of his card.
'Showtime.'
=To be continued!=