Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sweet but with a bite, the last of the liquid passed by Quistis’ lips. An entire bottle of wine to hopefully make her forget what she just did. The buzz came quickly, a pleasant warmth settling on her face and across her body. Her mind swam in the effects of the alcohol.

It did not forget.

Clutching either side of her head, Quistis tried to go over what went wrong without actually thinking about the incident. She was sure a few of her neuron pathways fried due to the contradictory processes she was putting her brain through. Or the booze was beginning to eat at her grey matter.

It was too much. She couldn’t keep it inside. It would fester beneath her skin and eat her alive. Despite seeing triple, she reached for her phone and hit her desired contact.

“Oh fuck me, Xu! I fucked up bad!” She exclaimed into the receiver. She wanted to stand but the floor decided to imitate a ships deck on rough seas. What an asshole her floor was.

“Uuuhhhh…” The voice at the other end began but her shame needed to be vacated quickly. 

“I know you don’t understand it but I tried to ask out Seifer and I really messed up!” Xu was not very accepting of her feelings for Seifer. And by not very accepting, Quistis meant running Scan spells on her to check for brain damage. A good, if overly cock-blocking, friend. She would understand why Quistis would never be able to show her face in public again. After that “TOTAL DISASTER, XU!!!”

“List—“ Xu didn’t know. But she would!

“I thought I would do it sexy! You know, seduce him a little. Oh Hyne! I tried to lean against the frame of his door!” Quistis explained, the flood of terrible memories threatening to drown her.

“Hey, uh—“ Xu’s suddenly really attractive and low voice flowed into her ears. A shiver went through Quistis’ entire body.

“You sound terrible and really sexy, Xu.” She complained loudly as her toes curled. They had tried the whole bisexual thing already. Nothing came out it except some very awkward making out. “A cold? Anyway, I missed! I missed the door frame! All cause mister boobzilla had his shirt off!”

“‘Boobzilla?’” Xu’s manly voice dripping with raw, animal magnetism asked in disbelief.

“We both know his pecs are massive!” Quistis needed Xu to know what Seifer’s body did to her mind.  “So is his ass! He’s got a dump truck back there. Straight up ‘Fire Booty!’”

“Wait. ‘Fire Booty?’” Xu seemed angry. It really turned her on. Maybe she was bisexual after all.

“Yes. I’ve seen it, Xu!” Quistis recalled walking down Balamb Beach one day when she came across Seifer skinny dipping in the ocean. The image of his wet naked body glistening in the summer sun had filled every vault in her spank bank and she was making withdrawals almost daily. “It’s why he wears that long coat. His ass is fire and it’s only way he doesn’t burn everything down.”

“That’s…uh…that’s…wow…” 

“Well, it doesn’t matter cause I’m not getting my hands on either!” Sadness suffused her soul as she contemplated her catastrophic attempt at asking the chest muscle-rich object of her affections out. “Cause you know what happened after I missed the damn frame cause he had his massive milk bags out?!”

“Actually, Quist—“ Xu tried to interrupt with the voice of an angel but Quistis carried on.

“I landed on his coffee table!” Quistis shrieked and stood only for the entire world to pivot and throw her back into the bed. Her phone never left her face. “I land on it ass first, launch his favorite mug into the air and hit him in his face! I gave him a black eye! He must hate me!”

“No, I don’t!” Xu was so kind. Imitating Seifer’s super sexy, deep voice with her sickness ravaged throat to make her feel better.

“Then I ran.” She sat up, propping her elbow up on her knee to rest her head in her free hand. “No apology. Nothing. Just sprinted until I got back to my room. Polished off the bottle of wine you gave me for my birthday. Oh fucking Hyne! It’s over, isn’t it? No chance?”

“No, wai—“ Xu’s Seifer impression was really spot on. Tears began to form in her eyes.

“Fuck!” Quistis hissed, the world stilling for a brief moment.  “And it was…he was…is really changed now. None of that anger. None of the hate. You should hear him laugh. His real laugh is beautiful. We talked for hours when I found him fishing on the wharf the other day. He got me ice cream. It was like, hmmm, it was like he didn’t want stop talking to me.”

“I didn’t.” The finality of the statement made her jolt. 

“Xu, I swear, go to Dr. Kadowaki.” A new heat invaded her face, and other places, making it harder to think. “Your sour voice is wonderful and really distractingly sexy. It’s like I’m talking to—“

“Seifer?”

“Huh…?” Quistis blinked several times.

“Check who you’re calling.” Seifer-Xu ordered.

Very, very gingerly removing the phone from her ear, Quistis looked at the screen.

Right smack dab in the middle in glowing white letters was the name ‘Seifer.’

“Oh.” Was all she could manage.

“Yeah.” Seifer sighed.

The next sound she made could not be qualified as human. An anger like she never felt in her life blossomed in her chest.

“YOU ASSHOLE!!!” Quistis screamed into the communication device.

“The hell did I do?!” Seifer yelled back.

“You just let me make a fool of myself by rambling none stop about how I want to ride your gunblade into the sunset!”

A crushing silence descended into the room. The grip on her phone increased.

“…you didn’t actually say that part yet.” Seifer coughed awkwardly. Quistis’ stomach dropped to her feet.

“Oh Hyne, I sound like an horny idiot.” She whined helplessly. If she hadn’t blown it earlier, this entire exchange guaranteed nothing but utter rejection— 

“I didn’t.” His voice, smooth and clear as crystal cut through the miasma settling over her thoughts.

“What?” Her heart beat faster as she waited for his response. Her stomach returned to its original position, catching some butterflies on the way up.

“I didn’t want to stop talking to you.” There was not an inch of her body Seifer’s voice did not touch. Every nerve ending she had tingled. “That day on the wharf.”

“Really?” She was unconscious and in an alcohol fueled dream but HYNE-DAMN was it a good one. 

“Yeah.” He sounded so sincere. She didn’t want to wake up. “So, you gonna ask?”

“Ask?” It took a second but the lights turned on in her head. He was offering to let her ask him out like she had originally planned. Considerate, respectful bastard. “Oh! Um, yeah, uh, Seifer would you—?”

“Yeah.” That word came out like a bullet and hit her right in the heart.

“You didn’t let me finish!” It didn’t feel like a dream anymore. Well, it did but she knew she wasn’t passed out drooling on her pillow right now. Still, it was happening so fast. “You don’t even know what I want to do.”

“Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s with you.” If he kept talking to her like that she was going to be morally obligated to fuck him. He said that like he planned on carving the statement into stone.

“You really mean that.” Quistis whispered.

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” That playful tone of his that she both hated and loved in equal measure found its way into the conversation. She smiled.

“Okay.” She nodded to herself. “Friday night.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

With that she hung up the phone, fell back in her bed and just stared at the ceiling. 

She did it.

…

She did it?

Quistis flew into a sitting position, a wild giddiness consuming her.

She fucking did it! She needed to tell someone. She knew exactly who! With a hiccup she found the correct contact in her phone and hit ‘CALL.’

“Xu! I failed successfully! I got a date with Seifer! You think he’ll fuck on the first date?! Oh, that would be so nice of him to bend me over and rail me! Should I wear underwear?”

“Quistis…Quistis, honey, this is Edea.”

“Oh.”