"What the hell are you doing?"
Janine pressed her forehead against the door of her room and dropped her hand from the doorknob. She released a deep breath and straightened to look to her right. "Babe, I told you: I can't ta-"
Seifer pushed her firmly but gently aside, taking her keys from her and unlocking the door of her room again. "Doctor's orders, Larabie. You're in bed until she re-examines you." He opened the door and pushed her inside, again firmly but gently.
Janine let him push and nudge her over to her bed and then down to sit on the edge. "Damn it, Seifer. Don't make me stay in here. I'm about ready to go nuts. Can't I veg in the library or something?"
Seifer lifted her feet, taking off her sneakers - she still wore her pajama shorts - and then guiding her feet and legs up onto the bed. "No." He put his hands under her arms and lifted her back, then lifted the blankets up and over her. "You're staying here."
"I bet if it had been you or Squall with a head-wound you'd been up and around yesterday without a negative word against it," she complained as she crossed her arms.
Seifer straightened and stared hard down at her. "Larabie, quit bitching."
"And why the hell should I do that? I want to have fun and you won't let me because of some crazy doctor's orders that I have to stay in bed for 24 hours!" She tossed off the blankets and slipped out of bed, standing directly in front of him. "I'm fine. I'm telling you I've had worse scrapes than this and been up and around in less than two!"
Seifer pushed her down onto the bed again, lifting her feet and legs up and then covering them with the blanket. He pressed his fists into the bed on either side of her as he stared into her frown. "You're staying here," he said firmly.
Janine crossed her arms. "Damn it, Seifer. I'm not some tender flower that needs to be coddled and cooed over. Shit."
Seifer's lips twitched. "Did I say it?"
"Didn't have to. Why the hell else won't you let me out and down to the doctor's to prove I'm fine?" She pointed at him. "I nearly got your ass, so why the hell do you think I should still be here?"
Seifer reached up to press hard on the bandage. Janine's face paled and her eyes glazed. Seifer lowered his hand. "That's why."
Janine lifted her hand to the bandage. "Ow," she complained, glaring hard at Seifer. "You didn't have to do that. All you had to do was strip and get in bed and I would've gladly stayed."
Seifer's lips twitched again as he straightened. "Can't. No time."
"Like hell. You're the Head of Network Security. Surely you can call in sick once in a while."
"I'm the Head of Network Security. I can't call in sick."
"So I'm just supposed to hole up here bored out of my mind?" Janine crossed her arms again. "So what the hell are you doing here, then? Rubbing my face in the fact I barely scratched you and you've got me flat on my back? Where's the security keeping your ass in bed?"
"I rank them."
Janine scoffed. "Hell. You rank everyone in your twisted mind."
"Damn straight. But." He pulled his shirt out of his slacks, unbuttoned it, and pulled it aside to show a bandage on his right side. "Ten stitches. Feel better?"
Janine stared at it with wide eyes. Then she looked up at Seifer again. He started refastening the buttons, smirking down at her. "You were going back to work and then carrying me around with that oozing under your shirt?"
Seifer started tucking his shirt into his slacks. "Adrenaline. Natural pain-killer."
"Hell, I know that. Why do you think I was able to get you your damn coffee, which I noticed you slopped all over your shoes and the carpet. Maintenance is going to be thrilled with that little present." Silence. "Seifer, will you get your ass over here and kiss me already?"
Seifer smirked and looked up, lowering his hands from the belt of his slacks to lean close and again press his fists against the bed on either side of her. "You don't rank me, Larabie."
Janine wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. "Who said a damn thing about rank?" she whispered.
She teased his mouth with hers, drawing him closer until she practically had him on top of her. Seifer tried to pull back and chuckled against her mouth when she resisted.
"Janine," he said against her mouth.
Janine smiled against his lips, nipping and nibbling. "Shut up."
Seifer's arms moved to surround her and draw her closer, his knee lifting to press into the bed as balance-- He gripped her arms and pushed her back. "Damn it, Janine," he protested gruffly. "I don't have time.
"Hey. You can't blame a girl for trying. I mean, hell, you left out of here last night just when it was getting interesting, kissing me like that and then taking off like a bat out of hell." She kissed him again, but this time shorter. "Control freak."
Seifer chuckled as he pushed her back into the pillows. He again tucked the blankets around her and leaned close. "Controlling someone like you is a rush, Janine. Can't pass."
She smirked and grabbed the belt-waist of his slacks and tugged him a little closer. "Don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm a kitten." And she purred for effect.
Seifer chuckled again as he pulled her hands from his slacks and straightened. He glanced to his watch and then pointed at her. "You keep your sweet ass in that bed."
Janine crossed her arms and absently tapped her fingers against her upper arms. "No promises."
One side of Seifer's lips twitched upward. Then a serious darkening to his green eyes warped his expression and he slowly sat on the edge of the bed.
Sirens flared in Janine's brain. "What."
"You're going to have to push hard, Janine."
Janine slightly nodded as she lowered her gaze to the nails of her left hand. "Yeah. I know. You, too." She released a quick breath and looked up to meet his gaze. "Like I said, people like us don't do this. That's why I want to."
Seifer's gaze held hers for a long moment before lowering to her hip under the blankets. He stared at it for ages before almost hesitantly reaching out and pulling the blankets down. Janine focused on the burn on her hip as he eased that portion of her pajama shorts down, lightly stroking the scarring with his thumb. The stroke tightened her throat and sent a spark that made her hands clench. But she knew it was all in her mind. The doctors had told her the nerves were burned beyond healing.
Janine briefly pressed her lips together. First opportunity. First risk before the thrill. She cleared her throat. "Missile blast. Moved too damn slow." She cleared her throat again. Seifer continued to stare down at the burn. "Finalized my deafness, blasting any chance of healing clear to hell."
'Beyond healing'. Doctors had said that to her a lot.
She lowered her hand to cover his. Seifer's hand remained, his thumb continuing its steady stroke. It may not have 'felt', but it felt damned good. Janine sighed deep. "Oh well. Makes life interesting. Although the weeks of surgery were boring as hell. Flat on my back with skin grafts and nerve therapy and who the hell knows what else. Lucky didn't blast my hip apart." Her hand tightened on his before she could stop it.
Seifer looked up and examined her face. "Fellow SeeD caught the majority of the blast?" he asked carefully.
Janine's throat tightened. She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms, again trying to clear the tightness from her throat as she stared down at her knees. "Yeah. Jennifer. Friend since junior classmen."
Janine felt her voice break, but she only adjusted her crossed arms and cleared her throat of the tears as she continued to stare at her knees. She didn't talk about it. Hadn't since they'd buried her. Wouldn't have done any good. Wouldn't have brought her back, or shoved the Galbadian missiles down the person's ass that had fired them.
And now the rage and regret and guilt burned as hot as before.
"She was a nice kid," Janine forced out, voice tight. "A lot like Sally." She blinked several times. "Saw the missiles coming...."
He pulled his hand slowly from the burn, drawing Janine's gaze. "And threw herself into the way," Seifer finished. He slightly nodded. "It's what SeeDs do," he said as he eased himself closer.
Janine swallowed hard. "Damn fool thing to do," she whispered. Damn awesome to talk about it... Finally. She lifted her gaze to his as he pressed his fist into the bed on the other side of her; his body hovering over hers like a shield. "Damn fool thing."
"Hell, Janine. You know you would have done it first if you could."
Janine could see a difference in the hard stare. An almost gentleness. Again, it felt good. A rush at the confession and a thrill at the acceptance and attempted soothing. Who the hell had she ever told? Who knew besides those at Trabia who had seen it happen?
Janine blinked rapidly as she tilted her head back against her headboard, staring at the ceiling. "Hell yes," she whispered. "She deserved her life."
Seifer nudged her side with his arm, drawing her gaze yet again. "And she deserved her death," he said. "Giving her life for a friend. Any one of us--"
"I know." Janine closed her eyes and covered them with a hand. She released a deep breath. "I know, Seifer."
Seifer reached up and pulled her hand down. Her eyes met his. "So you wish your ass had been in her place, any one of us would. Now you've got to let it go. It's done. She's a hero and you've got your life to dedicate to your duty. Her life and death gets meaning each day you do it."
Janine looked away and gave a slight nod. Then she released a long and deep breath, feeling as if she floated. Her lips tilted slightly upward. "Do you have any idea how good it felt to tell you that?" She rolled her head slightly to the right to meet his gaze. "I haven't told anyone anything about that day. Didn't want them shoveling pity at me like some... Hell. I don't know. I buried her, and that's where I buried everything I felt about it." Janine reached up with one hand to lightly scratch and scrub at his hair and scalp. "Thanks, big guy."
Seifer smirked and brought his watch up. He frowned. "Damn. Late." He leaned back.
Janine grabbed him by the shirt front when he made a move to stand. "You owe me a story, Seifer," she reminded.
He pulled her hands from his shirt. "I know, Janine. Push it later."
"Damn right I'll push it later." Janine pulled her hands from his and smoothed them down the front of his shirt, her left hand pausing on that area with the bandage. "I actually feel bad about this." She looked up and met his gaze. "I never feel bad about anything, but I damned-well regret that slash. I actually want to apologize for it."
Seifer scoffed and pushed her hands from his chest. "Don't. Had worse."
"I know that. I just..." Janine actually squirmed. "Hell. Feels damned uncomfortable."
Seifer suddenly chuckled as he shook his head. "Don't get soft, Larabie." He leaned down to place a firm kiss on her mouth. Then he slowly pulled back. "Don't get soft," he said gruffly.
Janine smirked. "Why the hell not? You might like it."
Seifer sounded another slight scoff and then straightened. He pointed at her. "Keep your ass in bed."
Janine saluted. "Yes, sir."
Seifer turned and exited her room. Janine leaned back into the pillows and then covered her face with her hands. She didn't know what the hell she was thinking, opening herself up to a man like Seifer who took people's secrets and used them to guarantee the safety of every SeeD in Garden... She took in and released another deep breath. Damn... The thrill of the risk had her right where she knew it would; waiting to see what he would do. Waiting to see if she would survive the vulnerability.
Janine lowered her hands from her face and stared at the ceiling. "I'll be damned if you weren't right, Sal gal. Shit."
« »
Seifer stared down into his coffee mug with an absent scowl, feet propped up onto his desk. The hustle within the security office of the changing of shifts was easily ignored as his mind blankly examined the black liquid that had long since cooled. He saw brown eyes filled with fear at a confession.
Seifer's glare deepened as he absently tapped his thumb against the desktop, palm flat. Hell. He set aside his coffee mug and let his head fall back to stare at the ceiling, his thumb yet again tapping an absent rhythm on his desktop. Dammit. Seifer sat up and scrubbed at his scalp. 'Do you have any idea-' he shoved it aside, but then 'Thanks--' He shook his head of the words. Shit!
The rush had him. The thrill. The risk. The mystery at what would come next. What secret to be revealed... But there hid a terror in the corner of his mind. He had revealed one secret. One confession that would have humiliated him in front of those who saw him as the man with no fear. And she hadn't laughed in his face. She had smiled and purred 'I'm still afraid of the dark. Don't like sleeping alone, either. ...wanna stay?'
Seifer scrubbed roughly at his scalp with both hands before running them down his face as he released a deep breath. Damn it. He owed her a personal story. A damn personal story! Seifer Almasy didn't tell 'stories'. He didn't have stories. He didn't want to have stories. There was duty. There was Garden. That was his story.
'I haven't told anyone anything about that day.' Seifer fisted his hands as he lowered them from his head. 'Didn't want them shoveling pity...' He lifted his head and glared at his closed office door. 'Thanks, big guy.' Thanks. Thanks? I told her to pull her head out of her ass and she says 'Thanks'? Seifer scoffed and sat back, kicking his feet back up onto his desk. 'Do you have any idea how good it felt to tell you that?' He had no idea. He had no stories. He wouldn't have stories.
...'scared of the dark...'
The thrill and the rush punched him in the gut, causing him a flinch. Seifer fisted his hands and crossed his arms as he glared at his shoes. Push it later.
'Damn right I'll push it later.'
Seifer moved his glare to his still-closed office door. Push it...
'Damn right...'
His knuckles popped. Seifer twitched and then forced his hands to open. He shook them out and then re-crossed his arms. You're going to have to push hard...
'Yeah. I know.'
Seifer tightened his jaw until it ached. He muttered "Damn it" as he sat up and pulled a stack of transcripts and reports close. But the story still waited to be told...
...and it refused to wait much further into the evening than just after dinner.
Seifer continued to clench and unclench his jaw as he straightened the reports on his desk, filed certain ones into the appropriate 'in-box's on his desk, and then took up his keys from his desk's center drawer. He slowly exited his office, locking the door with deliberate motions as the demand of the story weighed down his brows.
He turned and nearly ran over Ahndra. "What."
"You alright?" she asked, even though her expression proved she wouldn't believe any answer he gave.
Seifer stepped past her. "Fine."
A story waited to be told. A story he didn't have. How could he tell it...? Seifer tightened his fisted hands as he stepped aboard the waiting elevator. He stared at the changing number with a darkening glare. A story. A confession. Another rush that would heighten the addiction to the next one. Damn it...
The elevator stopped on the main floor and opened its doors. Seifer stepped out and halted. Janine straightened from where she had leaned against the wall near the elevator control-panel. The bandage on her head had been changed to a smaller one, and she now wore Balamb-Blue sweats with the Garden symbol and her usual white tank-tee.
Her brown eyes searched out his green ones, but he didn't accept the chase. Seifer moved his gaze to the keys in his hand as he searched for his dorm key. "Larabie."
Janine regarded him for a silent moment before asking "How hard do I push?"
Seifer clenched his jaw and said "Hard" through clenched teeth.
"Seifer, I don't know how to push hard without pissing people off," she warned.
"Fine." He sent her a dark stare. "Push it." The story had to be told.
Janine gave a slight and thoughtful nod. "OK." She stepped forward and gave a firm push. "Come on. Let's go."
Seifer fought back the flare of temper and allowed the push. He stepped down the stairs, hearing Janine's firm and steady steps behind him as they made their way down the main corridor and to the left. Once they neared the Training Center, Janine stepped past and grabbed firm hold of his arm to pull him into and down the side-hall. The urge to pull his arm from her grasp was strong, but he fought it back as they entered the Training Center and made their way to that portion that was - for all intents and purposes - restricted. Janine pulled him inside and then pushed his back against the wall, pinning him there with a hand on each of his arms as she held his gaze with hers.
"When was the first time you were here?"
Seifer pressed his lips together. "Fourteen." He fisted his hands to keep from pushing her back.
"So that's... um... Five, six... Seven years ago?"
"Close enough."
Janine watched his face a moment. "The first time Sally came here, she met Zell... Well, not really. He stared out at Garden while she just watched him. What about you? Why were you here?"
Seifer's brain screamed at him to stay silent, almost as if Janine were a spy attempting to force Garden secrets from him. "A dare."
Janine's lips twitched as she arched an eyebrow. "A dare? That sounds like fun. I love playing truth or dare. Took the dare each and every time. Shocked the hell out of everyone, too. Pissed my parents off, though."
Seifer pulled his arms free from her hands and turned to grip the wall as he stared out at Garden.
Janine stepped beside him, still watching his profile. "So what was the dare?"
"Quistis Trepe."
Janine leaned back against the wall, resting her elbows on the top as she examined his face. "And what the hell did you have to do? Or should I hazard an easy guess?"
"To quote the bastard who dared me: 'I dare you to score with Quistis Trepe in the forbidden zone at the Training Center.'" Seifer clenched his jaw. "I didn't think she'd come." He scoffed. "I didn't think she'd let me touch her, either. Too bad it wasn't more damned fun." Seifer met Janine's gaze and slightly sneered. "My first time having sex and in the middle of it I daydream about going off to war."
Janine smirked and lowered her gaze. "Hell. That explains a lot between you two."
Seifer scoffed again as he moved his focus back to Garden.
Janine heaved herself up onto the wall. "Well..." She guided Seifer to stand in front of her. "I guess there's only one thing to do." She smirked at him. "What's the risk-factor of getting interrupted?"
Seifer's lips twitched as he looked up at her. "Let's find out."
She held his face in her hands as she leaned toward him, her lips teasing his mouth with a seek and chase that had him pulling her from the wall with his hands beneath her tank-tee. Seifer pressed her tight against the wall and halted the chase, his hands continuing their caresses up and below and under... as her arms encircled his neck and pulled herself closer.
No daydreaming. Just pursuit of the thrill, taking each to the brink of that something next and then pulling back. Testing each other's discipline and control to the very limit. Then, to Seifer's surprise, Janine pulled back, holding him back with hands against his chest as she smirked up at him. Eyes half-closed and breathing as quick as his own.
"That's enough of that, big guy. You want me to fail my next psych test?"
His smirk twitched.
Janine pointed up at him. "Don't make me wipe that smirk off your face, Almasy." Then she stepped back to the wall and leaned against it, elbows resting along the top. "So... I guess that means I'm up. What do you already know from my file?"
Seifer moved to stand beside her arms crossed as he stared down at the debris that littered the floor of the Forbidden Area. "Haven't received it yet from Trabia. Regal's tracking it down."
"Heh. That likely pisses you off. Trevor never was quick on paperwork. He'd rather beat the shit out of bad guys. Not bad in bed, though."
An eyebrow twitched at a slight internal cringe as he focused on her profile. "You and Hillman?" He scoffed. "The guy's an undisciplined prick."
Janine chuckled, but didn't meet his gaze. "Tell me how you really feel."
Seifer briefly clenched his jaw, adjusting his crossed arms.
"But you're right," Janine continued. "He is." She shrugged. "I was bored, I guess." She looked over at him. "Don't you do anything like that when you're bored?"
"I don't get bored." Her continuing scrutiny caused a slight twitch to his jaw muscle.
"OK. Fine. Don't you do anything like that when you're so horny you'd hump a chair?"
Seifer barked out a laugh as he focused on her. "Damn, Larabie."
"What? You're telling me you don't ever get an itch to hop in the sack with the nearest sweet-assed candidate or SeeD? I don't believe that for one minute. You're one hot and sexy man, Almasy. You can't tell me that you don't need a little action every once in a while to settle your nerves."
Looking away, his hands fisted as his crossed arms tightened. He squinted off into the distance. "I don't have time for distractions."
Janine scoffed. "Ten minutes here and there to blow off steam a distraction?" She scoffed again.
"'Ten minutes here and there' grows, Larabie, and like I said before: Garden is my life."
Janine's scrutiny changed at that comment. "That sounds as if you've been around the bend a couple times."
He briefly tightened his crossed arms before sending her a sidelong glance, which she met. "I have."
"She ditch ya for another guy?" Janine asked bluntly.
The smirk that twisted his lips was a near sneer. "Something like that."
Adjusting her position so that she faced him, an elbow propped against the wall as her other fist rested on her hip, she said, "Almasy, you're not making this any easier."
He focused a hard glare on her. "Would you?"
She pressed her lips together. "OK, OK. So I wouldn't either." Janine leaned back once more against the wall, tightly crossing her arms as she glared ahead.
Seifer watched her for a moment before focusing again on the debris at his feet, jaw clenching.
"Damn 'story-telling' isn't as easy as it looks," Janine grumbled. "Shit, Sal-gal. How do you do it?"
Seifer had no idea. For years he'd worked at getting secrets for Garden's safety, but to give them up? ...the hell?! His jaw began to ache, so he pushed away from the wall with a mumbled excuse he couldn't even understand and stepped away.
As expected, Janine caught his arm and jerked him to a stop.
"SeeDs don't surrender, Seifer. Remember?"
Seifer fisted his hand, body tensing. Shit...
"Maybe we're trying too big? Too serious?" Janine reasoned.
But a secret was a secret. Big or serious, small and simple, what did it matter? It was still a secret. Something that was safer kept to oneself. Seifer pulled his arm from her grasp and headed once more toward the main portion of the Training Center.
"Why 'Death is answering 'No''?"
Again, Seifer halted.
Janine softly cleared her throat before stepping up beside him and intensely watching his profile. "I just don't see it as a smart-ass quip. Every time I do I get a pinch in the back of my brain. So, why that? Why that one statement?"
But how did he explain that it was that statement, said by Headmaster Cid, which had made him accept life with Garden? How did he tell her that he wouldn't be here, putting his ass on the line every day for thousands of SeeDs, if it hadn't been for that one phrase said to him when he thought his life had lost all sense of a previously had purpose?
Finally, after a moment of tense silence, she asked, "Is that your truth?"
His head sharply turned, eyes focusing on hers. "...what?"
Janine didn't look away. "'Death is answering 'No.'' Is that... Is that your... Your mission statement?"
Seifer couldn't answer.
"Me? I'm a thrill junkie. Whether it's in a battle, class, exam, or lecture, it's all about the rush and the thrill. It's about pushing myself to the limit of what I can do and then stepping a little more out." She slowly crossed her arms as she held his gaze, her brown ones almost thoughtful. "How does 'Death is answering 'No'' change things for you? What does it make you do?"
It made him stay in a place surrounded.... "My job," he said curtly, unable to look away from her brown eyes.
Janine very slightly nodded. "A damn hard job. One that's all guts and no glory."
"There's glory plenty," Seifer scoffed. "Each damn day some dickhead doesn't blow the shit out of some military or civilian establishment. Each power-hungry prick whose ass gets handed to him in the brig is my glory, Larabie, so don't shed a tear for this jackass."
She smirked and then laughed. "Me? Waste water on tears? Hell. You don't know me very well, do you, Almasy? The only time I cried was the day they lowered Jen in the ground." Janine stretched her arms over her head, saying, "Haven't had time for it since," as she yawned. "Takes too much energy." Then she lowered her arms, casting him a sultry smirk as she motioned toward him. "You done, then? You seemed ready to book ass out of here a little while ago."
Seifer frowned, glaring at the exit as he fisted and unfisted his hands. But go to what? The desk in his room filled with reports and transcripts he'd already sorted through four times already? Or stay with a sexy hard-ass who put up with his shit?
"Come on, come on," Janine said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the wall. Then she heaved herself up and patted the cement beside her. "Come on, big guy. Get yourself up here. I've got a helluva story. It'll have you laughing your ass off."
Sending one more look behind him to the exit... Seifer glowered - Oh hell - and then pushed himself up beside Janine.
"Careful," she said, reaching out to help. "Your cut, remember? Stitches are a bastard."
Once he had positioned himself beside her, he watched her face as she tugged his shirt out of the waistband of his slacks and checked the bandage. Then she gave a curt nod and gave his chest a stroke and himself a playful wink and twitch of eyebrows before asking, "You like pulling pranks, don't you? You know the ones. The pissier it makes them the better?"
An eyebrow twitched. "Your point?"
Janine retrieved her hand from his chest and examined her nails. "My point is that I pulled a pisser on a friend of mine when I was a candidate that had me howling for years after." She motioned toward him. "I really think you'd appreciate it. It was one helluva prank. And it came right off the top of my head. Had no idea I was going to pull one when I showed up. Inspiration, I tell ya. Pure and simple inspiration." She chuckled and looked ahead. "Damn. I got the prick good. Still amazes me what he did, though. Hot damn, was he cool about it." She laughed.
"Larabie, I've got better things to do than sit here listening to a one-sided reminisce."
"Alright, alright, big guy. Keep your boxers on." To Seifer's surprise, she adjusted her position so that she was lying back along the top of the retaining wall, her head suddenly in his lap as she smirked up at him. "O-oh. Much better. OK. So here I am a spunky little bitch of a candidate getting ready to start the first wave of heavy training before doing the exam qualifier. Well, that's all fine and dandy but I've never been one to enjoy stressing over anything. So the minute the stress starts, I start freaking a little bit and need to beat some shit up. So, I go to the Training Center, get all wet, wild, and freaky-icky and then go to the showers - co-ed showers, you know - only to find one of my friends doing the same exact thing." She howled. "The guy's singing in the shower as if he thinks he's the male version of that Julia-chick with the 'Eyes on Me' hit. Actually, he doesn't sing so bad. Anyway, it hits me like a damn-- oh, who the hell knows."
"Larabie," Seifer grumbled. "Will you tell the damn prank?"
Janine smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm getting there. Chill. So, I step into the shower, hear the one-date-wonder singing his heart out, and walk straight up to his locker and take his candidate-uniform, all the towels available - including the dirty ones - and then make sure all the other lockers are either secured tight or empty. I even made sure all the wastebaskets didn't have anything bigger than a gum-wrapper." Janine chuckled, brown eyes twinkling. "There was no way in hell I was going to leave him with something to cover up."
Seifer's lips twitched upward. "Poor bastard."
Adjusting her position slightly within his lap, Janine reached up to wipe at a corner of his lips with her thumb as she continued. "Hell no. Pranks and this guy have always gone hand-in-hand. Him and Dincht have great stories. Anyway." She tucked her hand back under her arm. "So here the poor guy's got nothing but what Hyne gave him and I've gone to lunch with another friend of mine in the cafeteria. Now what you've got to remember is all this is happening at Trabia Garden in the middle of the busiest lunch session. Instructors, SeeD, candidates, and even the Headmaster is in the cafeteria getting something to eat and drink. In fact, I think the chief of security was there refilling his coffee. And what do you know? Some buck-naked guy about 6' 4" tall comes walking in all pink and flustered and holding a strategically placed plant-leaf. A rather large plant leaf."
"You're shitting me."
"Hell no. You're my favorite turd."
Seifer laughed.
"It gets better," Janine promised. "Not only does he walk straight through the center of the cafeteria, the poor bastard strides directly up to me and my friend at the table where we're trying to eat - not that it's easy to do when you've got a 6'4" hottie walking toward you without a stitch on but a bit of greenery. My imagination was painting a very different picture - but he simply sticks out his hand and says, 'Very funny. Now, may I have my clothes back, please?'"
"You didn't just give them to him, Larabie. Please."
Janine wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Hell no! I gave him a key, but I didn't tell him what the key was to, or where it was located, or even what was there. Believe me, he took the key faster than a dying man grabs water. Then he put the key in his teeth, grabbed my tray while smiling weakly at my friend, and then turned and calmly walked off, hiding his sweet ass with the tray. My friend and I must have howled for hours and days after that... Hey, you know what? I think he and my friend started going out after that." Janine laughed. "Figures. Who wouldn't with that body burned into their head?"
She laughed harder, lifting a hand to her forehead as Seifer smirked down at her. "Poor bastard," he said again.
Shaking her head, Janine lowered her hand and released a long and deep breath. "Yeah. I guess it was rather harsh, but damn was it funny to see him all red and pissy. I think every muscle in that tight-ass body of his was as taut as a coiled spring, he was so damned embarrassed."
"Note to self: Put better locks on the lockers," Seifer commented, chuckling.
"Hey, what's the fun in that?"
"You should never do the same prank twice. Ruins the thrill."
Janine's eyebrow arched upward. "Good idea. Would never have thought of that. Of course, I've never done the same prank twice on the same person, so I guess that's close enough." She put her hands behind her head, lacing her fingers together as she smiled up at him with the same sultry smirk he'd come to expect from her. "So, now what?"
Seifer shifted his focus to the stars. He had never shared anything with anyone. What cause did an orphan have for sharing? And a soldier? They took life and gave back nothing but a supposed sense of security and safety....
"Hey." Janine lifted a hand to tickle the skin of his partially exposed chest beneath his black-silk shirt. When he didn't react, she snapped her fingers and once more crossed her arms. "Damn. Not ticklish."
He looked away, absently adjusting his balancing hold on the retaining wall as he slightly frowned. Janine took nothing, and he didn't understand that. The chase was shared between the both of them. The secrets were shared. Their nights and mornings together.... Seifer's frown darkened. Different... No taking. And he didn't understand that.
Janine left him wanting more. More of her. More of her past. More secrets....
Seifer released a quick breath, feeling her scrutiny as she adjusted her crossed arms. She continued to watch him, reminding him how he'd never done anything like this before. Being with a woman as hot as Janine meant sex, maybe a thrill, and then it was over. With Janine, each time she accepted his 'no' the thrill was like a Firaga in the back of his skull, and it kept him coming back for more.
He reluctantly smirked. Who knew?
"I lost my virginity when I was thirteen."
Seifer's gaze focused on hers somewhat sharply.
"My parents were killed the previous year by Galbadian soldiers, so I'd been living on my own with my brother, Danny, for so long I'd forgotten what it felt like to have a home. Odd jobs, stealing, whatever I could do to keep him fed and warm."
Janine squinted her eyes at the stars, swallowing somewhat hard as she tightened her crossed arms. "Some missionary and his family took me in that second winter, and their oldest boy was damned good to look at...."
She shrugged and then looked over at him, meeting what was likely an oddly serious gaze.
"I guess I just wanted to be with someone again. Being alone sucked shit, and he was a nice kid. A little naive. Didn't know what hit him when I made the move." Janine focused again on the stars above. "I was only with them for a month before joining Garden. Danny's still there. They adopted him years ago. I get letters from him sometimes. Get cards from them every birthday and holiday."
Silence was Seifer's only answer, mostly due to the fact he didn't know what was expected from him by way of response. What the hell am I thinking? But, to be honest, he didn't give a rat's ass.
Janine cleared her throat and shifted her head against him to again meet his eyes. Those damn sexy eyes of brown that could flash and burn and yet be as hard and cold as stone while setting his brain on fire. Those sparkling depths of arrogant desire that hid a SeeD that had cried at her best-friend's funeral.
One side of her lips twitched upward. "You're the first man to say 'no' to me, Seifer Almasy; twice. And I'll be damned if that doesn't make you all the more a thrill I want to have."
Seifer focused on the stars above, his mouth twisted in a similar arrogant smirk. His favorite. "I say 'no' because I know how much it pisses you off."
Janine sharply sat up, turning toward him with a growl of "You sick son of a bitch," while throwing a right hook.
Seifer caught it while giving her an almost sadistic grin. "Now, now, Larabie. Assaulting a senior officer will get you a night in the brig." Then he pulled her close against him, one hand holding hers behind her back while the other was trapped between them. Janine stared up at him in shock, eyes slightly wide. "I say 'no', Larabie," he confessed gruffly, "because I like being chased."
It was a confession that had the Firaga spell popping in his head the same time she very slightly smiled, entwining her hands behind his neck while whispering, "Will you just kiss me, you big ox," and had the thrill of a lifetime in simply 'making out.'