Time after Time
Chapter 13 - Denwa (phone)
Disclaimer: Not mine, won’t ever be, yadda, blah, yadda daaaa…
Notes: So far, none.
Time after Time
Chapter 13 - Denwa (phone)
Brushing her hand upon the mossy face of a large rock, Selphie leaned in for a closer look. Was this truly it? The fabled village of the Tonberries? That’s odd…This looked like just a…cave. Shrugging, she followed the excited mass of green critters as they scurried into the darkness beyond. Selphie’s hand dragged along the smooth stone wall as she slowly made her way after her guides. Not long after entering the cave, the air became cleaner, colder.
“Where are we going…?”
Soft squeaks of excitement met her quiet question. Was that light up ahead? Heeeeey…Lanterns. Well, duh. What had she expected, torches? Not likely down here. Picking up her pace, she jogged down the smooth hallway, passing what appeared to be two sentries at the mouth of a large cavern. The walls stretched and curved upward to form an almost cathedral-like ceiling that gave you this really neat feeling if you stared up at it and spun. Sidling over to another wall, Selphie looked up, watching a rather old looking Tonberry paint the cold gray surface.
“Heeeeellooo! Whatcha doin’?”
The Tonberry she addressed looked down from his perch upon a wooden scaffold, paint brush in hand. He squeaked sharply, indicating the impossibly large mural.
“Woaah! Holy Hyne, did you do that all by yourself??”
The elderly Tonberry nodded slowly, almost as if he were processing what she was saying. He pointed to a small can of paint at her foot, waving his paw wildly.
“Oh, send it up? Okay then…”
Getting a good grip on the handle, she swung the covered container up into the air. With any luck the old boy would be able to catch it. Feeling as if her good deed had been done for the day, Selphie headed back toward the main path, not paying much head to the surprised cry and the sound of a collapsing structure that could only have been made from wood.
“What do you suppose we’re supposed to do now? Selphie didn’t leave us anymore instructions. She took most of the cult with her.”
“I dunno…I’m a little sleepy though…”
“How can you be tired? We haven’t done anything at all today!”
“Yeah…Still tired though.”
“You’re impossible, Chickenwuss.”
“Heeey….Mean…”
“What? Not even going to retaliate?”
“Nope, tired.”
Seifer sighed, running his hands over his okay-well-I-wouldn’t-really-call- him-my-boyfriend-cause-I-can’t-bring-myself-to-say-it boyfriend’s stomach. Man, coming to terms with the way you felt was a doozy. It was one thing to admit that you were in love with someone, but a whole other thing to actually…admit it again. The taller blonde shook his head, groaning. Why was everything so damn complicated? He covered his eyes with his hand, lying back on the grass. Sure he and Zell and come a long way…But there were miles to go in this relationship.
“Seif…Feels good…”
“Hmm.”
Zell stretched across the Aryan youth’s lap, arching his back to the touches on his firm stomach. With a contented sigh, he took Seifer’s hand within his own, running his thumbs over the slightly callused skin. He loved Seifer’s hands. One so rarely saw them. Smiling to himself, he pressed a tiny kiss where thumb met hand.
“Me thought gloves prevented this kinda thing.”
“They usually do. But sometimes I practice without them.”
“Yer just full of mysteries…”
“Don’t you know it.”
Long, slender fingers flew over the smooth keys of a laptop, the clicking seemingly loud in the empty room. Squall narrowed his eyes as he dragged his fingertip over the small panel stationed on his keyboard in place of a mouse. Tapping his finger upon a small black button, he sat back and watched the screen flicker, then become a little more solid. If all the equipment had been set up, this should yield the results he had been looking for.
“Seif…Feels good…”
“Hmm.”
Irvine poked his head into the room, his caramel locks spilling to the side as he tilted his head in curiosity. Creeping up slowly behind his lover and commander, he bent over, wrapping his arms around Squall’s shoulders.
“Stormyyy…Whatcha doin’?”
“Watching satellite feed from Centra.”
“Does that explain why we’re watching a little movie of Seifer molesting Zell’s tummy?”
“Yup.”
“How did you GET this??”
“…”
“Wait! Don’t tell me!”
“…”
“Don’t tell me! I KNOW I know this…”
“Selphie.”
“It was Selphie, wasn’t it?!”
“I just said it was.”
“Sometimes I’m so brilliant I amaze myself!”
“So then Squall leans over and tells me that he thinks he actually SAT on the lollypop!! Isn’t that hilarious?? Then I told him that he couldn’t possibly have done it because I still had mine, but THEN I remembered that Seifer had been eating one and was really really upset with Squall because of that time he had beat him in the Training Center…”
The massive Tonberry sitting before the babbling human girl listened intently, his booming laughter sending echoes in the domed chamber. Leaning over the edge of his throne, he picked up the drink he had been sipping. Nothing quite like a daiquiri on a cool fall morning…He lift the bucket- turned mug onto the throne’s armrest, taking the pipe-turned straw in his mouth for a nice long drink.
“…and when we got there it turned out that they had both dance cages AND a square dancing floor! I mean, what ARE the chances??? So me and Irvy went out on the—”
The large Tonberry coughed, raising a paw. Stopping curiously, Selphie lifted her head to gaze at the Tonberry King.
“What’s up? Uh-huh…Uh-huh…OH! I’m sorry! You have to tinkle? Oh, I’ll wait right here! Okay, don’t take long your majesty!!!”
Standing up to inspect the abandoned ‘mug’, Selphie peered into the near empty container.
“Oh, coool! A prune daq!…Hey wait…Don’t prunes give you the…you knows…?”
Several Tonberries turned to her, nodding slowly. Huffing, she turned to face the large door with the carved crescent moon upon its face. This could take a little longer than she had thought…
Zell rolled over, grimacing at the loud beeping coming from beneath the bed he shared with the love of his admittedly short life.
“Seif…I’m gonna have to kill ya…Why’d the fuck didja bring yer cell??”
“Because I didn’t like the thought of being stranded out here in the middle of nowhere without some form of communication to civilization.”
Seifer reached over Zell’s prone body, searching beneath the expanse of the cots they had pushed together to make a more comfortable bed for his duffel. His fingers brushed against sand and dirt before finally closing around the strap of the large bag. Hauling it out into the low lamplight, he unzipped the top and removed the small cellular phone.
“How do ya even get reception out here?! I mean, we’re like in nowheresville!”
“Shh, I pay extra each month. Hello?”
The line crackled a little as the connection was established. Over the slight haze and fuzz of the phone line Seifer managed to pick out the sound of his commander and more-or-less former rival’s voice.
[Seifer, you there? This is Squall.]
“Yeah, I hear you. Ignore the Chicken, he’s upset that you woke him.”
[Hrm, I doubt you both were sleeping in the first place.]
Seifer made a face, looking at the phone as if it had personally suggested something naughty to him. “I don’t know what you mean, STORMY.”
Zell rolled his head back and forth, listening to this neck pop and crack. Feeling slightly refreshed, he stuck his head into Seifer’s duffel to explore while he talked to Squall. Let’s see…Cigarette case, lighter…Book…Hey, Seifer read? Neat. Cigarettes…He’d make the tall blonde quit sooner or later. Filthy habit. Snacks…Hey, gummy worms…Yum! Zell opened the ziplock bag, slurping a green and orange worm down with satisfaction. Mmm…candy…
[Now, now…We know about everything that goes out there. Don’t sound so surprised, Seifer. Besides, you’ll kiss my boots once you get back here once you shut up long enough for me to tell you why I decided to call.]
“Well, what reason would that be?”
[You and Zell can come home. We were watching the update this morning and decided that you and Mr. Dincht are more than ready to return to Balamb Garden. We are currently hovering near a small village on the Willow Planes. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding us.]
“That’s more than wonderful news! Blessed Hyne!…But there is one minor problem…”
[What’s that? I thought you guys were dying to come home.]
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, we are…But you see…”
“What?? What’s going on? Huh? Huh??”
“Shut up, dammit! I’m trying to explain to—”
Zell punched his kinda-sorta boyfriend in the shoulder, pouting heavily. No fair! Zell grumbled slightly before an idea struck him. Time to lay on the cuteness…Crawling into his lap, Zell rubbed his baby soft cheek against Seifer’s bare chest. “Meaaan…”
“Aw, baby…I’m just trying to explain to Squall why we can’t exactly go home yet.”
Zell brightened at this. “We’re going home?”
“You betcha, babe.” Seifer smiled, leaning to kiss the smaller boy softly. The kiss did not remain so innocent for long, quickly evolving into a primal tasting.
“Mmm…Seif…Kiss my neck…Love it when you…aaaah…”
[SEIFER ALMASY, GET YOUR MIND BACK ON THIS CONVERSATION. NOW.]
Seifer rolled his passion-clouded eyes, picking up the phone from where it had fallen onto the course sheets. Zell blushed guiltily, but smiled nonetheless, his bright eyes gazing up into Seifer’s currently jade orbs.
“Yes sir, I’m here sir.”
[Don’t give me that shit, you jerk. Now what was it you were going to tell me before you got so damn randy?!]
“Oh, just that our camp adviser is missing. Nothing big.”
[What do you mean Selphie is missing? I swear, I don’t know how many times I’ve told you that killing off your fellow SeeD’s, not matter how annoying…]
“I didn’t do anything! So presumptuous tonight, aren’t we?”
[So where is she then?]
“She just disappeared one morning, leaving some note about how she went to go to some Tonberry village. We haven’t the…Give me my pants back, Zell. It’s cold. Huh? Oh, sorry Squall. But yeah, we don’t exactly know where she is.”
[Whatever. Just contact me when you’ve found her. I’d like to put you and Zell on a mission sometime soon. I don’t even want to THINK about what happened at that Housewives convention thing…Urg…Night.]