Stealth
Chapter XXIII
By Yuri Nigasa
*standard I don't own FFVIII, Squaresoft, characters, etc. applies from now until whenever I decide I'm done*
Stealth
Chapter XXIII
By Yuri Nigasa
[Squall]
Alisa’s files told us nothing new. What the therapist had labeled posttraumatic identity separation Seifer and I knew in fact to be the emergence of the Oracle persona. Unless we were able to speak to her when she exhibited the personality change there would be nothing we could do for her. To attempt to explain the particulars of the emerging events would only confuse her right now. I didn’t want to explain the current situation to anyone who wasn’t involved by necessity, be it Kadowaki or the therapist. The chance for information leaks exponentially increased the more people we involved, a risk I didn’t care to take.
Elle was due up for dinner any moment now. I paced nervously, ignoring Seifer’s mental commands that I sit down and quit driving him insane. I had this sinking feeling that Elle would want to get involved, and that was an option I didn’t care to think about. The door chime stopped me in my tracks and Seifer nearly bolted to the door to let Elle in. I stood, frozen, where just a moment before I couldn’t quit moving. Entering, she embraced Seifer cordially and turned to me. Her face was lined with concern. She may not have been my sister in truth, but we were family by blood, however scarce the traces actually were. Why did the women in my life believe they had to brood over me like mother hens?
“Squall,” she said quietly, and held her arms out to me. I closed the distance between us and hugged her close, hoping to reassure those as of yet unnamed fears.
“How was your day?” I asked as we walked over to the table and sat down on the floor. I mentally smacked myself for asking such a loaded question.
Thankfully, Elle fielded the question deftly with a demure answer. “I had a relaxing afternoon, really. It does take some getting used to, though.”
“What does?” Seifer asked. “Oh, you mean the movement? After a while you won’t notice it, but initially it does mess with your balance a bit.”
She smiled. “Yes, that’s exactly it, although the view is as lovely as it ever was.”
Dinner was uneventful, but I had a difficult time eating due to my preoccupation with the conversation I knew was imminent. All too quickly we finished dessert and sat down on the couch - myself in the chair and Elle and Seifer on the couch.
“So,” I began nervously.
“No, Squall. I said I’d handle it and I will,” Seifer interjected. “Elle, I’m ready to answer what I can.”
She held her hands in her lap and fidgeted nervously. Staring down at her skirt, she was silent for several moments before she looked up. “I don’t really know where to start asking questions. I’ll admit I’m worried, though. Seifer, you scared me when you asked me to help, and what I saw didn’t change that. I didn’t like the feeling it gave me. It was sinister... worse than Adel, worse than Ultimecia... and the power it radiated... I’ve never felt anything like it. I guess I should ask what it was?”
I closed my eyes and waited for Seifer’s answer.
[Seifer]
What is Immamiel? I fought back a groan. Damn me and my big mouth. ‘I’ll handle it...’ Yeah, right. “First, I need to know that none of this is leaving this room.” When she nodded her agreement, I continued. “Well, the short answer is Immamiel. We took a routine mission to Galbadia where they were experiencing some trouble with some monsters.” Why does this shit always start out with routine missions? “The problem turned out to be more difficult than we expected. It seems that Immamiel is the driving force behind the monster attacks. His powers, unlike that of a sorceress, are not inherited. He poses a continual threat, and from what we can determine, his powers are exceedingly greater than those of Ultimecia and her minions.” Score one for the power of understatement.
“So where does your involvement,” she nodded at both of us, “come in?”
I caught the sharp look on Squall’s face and weighed my next words very carefully. “He’s making some sort of a play for power. What exactly we don’t know yet, but he’s attempting to exert pressure on our actions in whatever will occur in the future.”
“Like Ultimecia?” she asked.
“His goal is unknown, but I don’t think his goals are similar. If something akin to Time Compression were his goal, I would think he just would have assisted Ultimecia. One thing though, whatever his aim is, we know for certain it can’t be good. If we knew more, I could tell you.” Playing ignorant is good. “We don’t.” Squall’s expression had relaxed, and I knew he felt that I had handled the situation well.
“So, he’s trying to use Squall? Like Ultimecia tried to use you?” Her brow furrowed as she attempted to come to some conclusion about the situation.
“Something like that,” I said. “The only problem is that Squall has no conscious recollection of the first attempts Immamiel made to contact him. It seems, though, that Immamiel is getting impatient, and saw fit to get a bit more direct in his methods lately, and I was concerned. I felt it was best that we know exactly what had occurred.”
“I see. I do feel a little better about it now, although if what you say is true, and he really is more powerful than Ultimecia, this can’t be good. We barely survived the last time. What about this time?”
“Hey, don’t you worry,” I said, deliberately putting on a brave front. “We’ll handle anything he can throw at us, I promise.”
Elle smiled at me, and I smiled back, forcing the cheerfulness into my eyes, hoping she wouldn’t read the uncertainty hidden there... hoping that if I convinced her just enough, she wouldn’t go prying further into the past.
[Squall]
The rest of the evening went smoothly, and we said our goodbyes to Elle just after midnight. We let her know that we would most likely be leaving the following day to return to the mission, but that she was welcome to stay on as long as she’d like. My impression of the night was that things went well, although I could tell that Seifer was just as relieved as I was to see her out the door, despite the fact that we both loved her company. I sent a brief message to Quistis, letting her know that barring major catastrophe, we’d be back some time the following day. Time was short, and we had to get back to Centra as soon as we could.
“Do you think she bought it?” Seifer asked later as we were getting ready for bed.
“We can hope. You handled it well,” I said, smiling at the look he gave me upon receiving the compliment.
“Thanks,” he said, kissing me on the cheek. I blushed; finding myself still amazed every time at how he could make me feel. This was the side of Seifer that belonged to no one but me. “Come on, get into bed,” he said, drawing me back onto the comfortable mattress and propping me up against his chest. I relaxed, despite the world of concerns that weighed deeply on my mind. Moments like this, I mused as sleep tugged me ever closer, were worth saving the world for.
[Seifer]
For once I got the jump on him... waking up first, that is. He's got this vicious internal clock that somehow seems to activate at the first sign of outside light, whereas I will sleep through damned well everything if I feel secure. And well, if sleeping beside the most beautiful man in existence isn't security then I've never known it. His bangs were hanging over his eyes and his mouth was slightly parted, his breathing steady. One hand was under the pillow and the other was lying on the sheets. I reached out and laid my hand on top of his, his fingers reflexively grasping mine, as I leaned over and placed a kiss on his bare shoulder. He moaned and stretched, his eyes fluttering open as he turned his head back to look at me.
"Morning," I whispered. A smile played across his lips as he stretched, his backside pressing into my thighs.
"Hi," he said, bringing my hand up to his lips and pressing a kiss to the knuckles. "You're up early."
"Nah, you're just up late."
"So, are we..." he began.
"Shh," I chided. "Not yet. I still have dibs on you for at least another hour before you're even allowed to bring up the rest of the day."
"Oh really?" he said, rolling over onto his back, stretching his arms back and pressing his hands against the headboard.
"Really," I said, leaning over to cover half his body with mine.
He dropped his arms and circled them around my neck, drawing me down to press his lips against mine chastely. "Well then, let's make the most of the hour."
I brought my hand up to caress his cheek. He turned, nuzzling my palm with his lips as his hands splayed across my chest. They were still sleep-warmed and felt delicious against my skin, the calluses on his palms and fingers rough against the sensitive skin of my nipples. Rolling on top of him, I straddled his hips, our erections pressed against one another as I leaned down. Slowly, I ran the tip of my tongue across his collarbone and into the hollow at the base of his neck, feeling his pulse throbbing against my mouth as I licked my way up his neck to his earlobe, my breath hot in his ear. I felt his arms around my waist, his nails raking up my back and between my shoulder blades, making me shiver.
He thrust his hips up against mine and I matched his action with a thrust of my own. We moaned together, each of us taking our time, our movements slow, languid, measured. Squall's arms wrapped around my neck again and I was powerless to resist as he pulled me in for another kiss. He ran his tongue across my lower lip, teeth nipping playfully in the wake, pulling gently before releasing. I let him tease me, my eyes closing as I concentrated on nothing but the aching need that simple action pulled from within me. I wanted to just push his legs up, brace them against my shoulders, and seat myself in him to the hilt, to hear him groan in surprise and to watch as the look on his face melded from shock to sensuality.
Instead, I slithered from underneath his arms and crawled down the bed, ignoring the protests and the fuck me look in those bedroom eyes. I brushed my cheek against his cock, the night's worth of stubble scratching against the satin skin stretched taut by desire. He gasped and I knew he'd be gazing down at me, but I kept my gaze downward, opening my mouth to let my moist, warm breath reach out and caress his hardness. He tried to thrust his hips in my direction, but I still outweighed him and he didn't have good leverage. I flicked my tongue out to touch the sensitive head of his shaft, watching as the muscles contracted, making his cock twitch.
"Seifer," he moaned, his hands reaching down to fist in my hair, tugging hard enough to make me wince. I lifted my head and gazed up at him as he brought me back up to eye level. Exerting force, Squall rolled us over so that he now straddled me, his whipcord-muscled thighs locking tightly against mine.
Reaching down, he took my length in his hand, stroking softly, tracing the pad of one finger around the head of my cock, rubbing the small bit of precum across the head before darting down to lick it from the tip. I nearly lost it right there, all across his glorious face, and he knew it, smirking up at me in a glance I'd swear I'd only seen in the mirror before. "It's not so nice to tease, is it?" he whispered coyly.
I grunted, locking my ankles together behind his back, holding him down mere spaces away from my erection. His tongue reached out to lap at my shaft, the slick spit from his tongue warm against me before it rapidly cooled in the air. I felt his tongue dip lower, running down slowly before he took my balls in his mouth, sucking at them while his hand played with the nest of curls, trailing abstract swirls down and then across the skin of my hardness. My hands clenched at the sheets, my body thrusting in tense, rapid motions. I felt him climbing back over me, his thighs were trembling and I felt a slippery trail of cum brush against my inner thigh as his still hard cock brushed against it. I reached down and grabbed him by the ass, pushing him up to my abdomen, his erection pressing against my stomach as my hands spread the cheeks of his ass and I slipped my middle finger into the puckered hole of his rectum. He moaned and moved down, pushing my finger in deeper. I moved my finger further and felt him quiver as I hit the right spot. My hands were grasping his ass, my fingers digging deep into the crack as I slid my index finger in.
Reaching out, he splayed his hand against my chest for balance as his other hand reached down to encircle my cock. His thumb played against the head, stroking it in small circles while he jerked at my length. I opened my eyes and saw him gazing down at me, his eyes drowsy with lust, mouth deliciously half open and begging to be plundered. I moved one hand up to his neck and drew him down, my tongue thrusting deep into his mouth as I pushed gently upward with the hand still situated partly on and partly in his ass. Pushing up on to his knees, he moved back until I could feel his cock brushing the back of my hand. Removing my fingers, I spread his ass as I felt the head of my shaft pressing against him. I thrust my hips upward and I felt the air leave my lungs as he gasped without breaking our kiss.
Spreading his knees out, he let his weight drop down on me, drawing an answering gasp of my own from me as I felt him clench around me. I reached down to grasp his penis as his balls rocked against my abdomen, pressing down and lifting up as he rode me. My legs began to shake and Squall took delight in it, riding me all the harder, reaching down to find my hands and push them above my head. Every time he thrust down his hands would slide down my forearms, clenching at the muscles. Moving my hands down to his hips, I raised my knees, bringing his knees up off the bed, removing his leverage as his body weight pressed him down against me. I began to thrust into him hard, his body jolting every time I impaled him. He began to whimper as I grunted, his cock rubbing against my stomach to leave translucent streaks of cum across the muscles. His body tensed and I looked up to see that momentary unconscious haze pass through his eyes before he splattered his hot cum across my chest, his hands reaching down and running through the milky white substance. I rolled him over and picked up his legs, bracing the backs of his thighs against my forearms as I pounded into him, the aftershocks of his orgasm shaking his body and sending me over the edge as I flooded my seed into him, collapsing heavily against him, the smell of sex infusing the air like a heavy perfume.