Email: [email protected]
Title: Video
pairing: Squall/Seifer/Zell (friendship really)
warnings: maybe just a pinch of bad language
rating: PG 13
Seifer Almasy crouched in a burnt out carcass of a building,
breath heaving in his body and bided his time. From the corner of his
eye he glimpsed a flicker of movement. Swiftly and silently he hurled
a grenade at his opponent and waited. The other man turned his head
at the small scrape of the fallen object, but he moved too late and
Seifer watched with perverse satisfaction as Zell was enveloped in a
blossom of fire and smoke.
"Damn you and those grenades," Zell shouted, throwing his
controller down in disgust. "You're a menace at this game, you know
that?"
"`Course I am," Seifer said with a sneer.
"Well, a real man would face up to me with a gun, not crouch
safely behind a wall and throw grenades," Zell muttered, watching the
title screen flash on his TV.
"Oh, please Zell, this is Battle Arena, and you're a sniper.
Honourable men don't sneak around and shoot at their enemies, but
this is war, boy! You've got to be prepared to make some moral
sacrifices," he said, grinning with evident relish.
"Actually, it's a silly video game," Squall commented drily
from the sofa.
"Petty niggling," Seifer said.
"Funny how when you make sacrifices in your moral code, I
always die," Zell complained.
"So, you want to have another go?" Seifer asked with a grin.
"Sure, I'll get you this time, you bastard!" Squall rolled
his eyes and went back to reading his book only to be interrupted by
horrendous swearing and the sound of another loud digital explosion.
"You did it again, you bastard!" Zell shouted, his face red.
"Ahh, but I used my bazooka this time."
"Now who's niggling?" Zell grabbed a pillow from the couch, a
pillow that had only moments before been propping Squall's head up
and proceeded to bash Seifer in the stomach with it.
"Oof, stupid Chicken Wuss," he growled, clutching his middle.
Zell continued to advance with the pillow while the video
game scrolled through its opening credits. Squall sat up, holding his
head where it had connected with the arm of the couch and projecting
shards of pointed icy silence towards the combatants who were now
over by the kitchen counter. Seifer had commandeered the pillow and
was trying to shove the whole thing into Zell's mouth. Despite many
claims that Zell had the biggest mouth in the world, he wasn't
getting very far. Squall began to perceive that he would have to
actually say something in order to curb this ridiculous behaviour,
preferably something cold and cutting that would use a minimal amount
of syllables, when Seifer was shoved hard into the counter by Zell,
knocking Squall's beloved Lion King mug onto the floor. A sharp
shattering sound ensued. Time slowed down for Seifer and Zell, their
eyes locked as they realized the gravity of the consequences of their
actions. Seifer swallowed nervously and Zell shivered. Squall rose up
off of the couch so swiftly that neither of the other men saw
anything until they were both shoved against the wall with one of his
hands wrapped around each of their throats.
Squall stared at them for several minutes, his eyes shooting
out white hot sparks intended to telegraph to them the pain and
distress he was suffering by being forced to continue breathing the
same air as they did. It was remarkable how Squall could say more
without ever opening his mouth than most people did while delivering
eloquent speeches couched in rhyming couplets.
"Get out, now!" Squall roared finally, releasing them
simultaneously. Zell darted for the door like a startled rabbit.
Seifer, feeling his pride, as he usually did since it was always
closer to him than a lover, cocked his head at Squall and sneered.
"Listen, Squall, you know as well as I do that you can get
another coffee mug like that in Balamb any day, it's not like it's a
big deal, and what you want with such a fruity little bit of kid's
merchandizing anyway . . ." his speech was cut short as Squall
punched the wall so hard that the plaster caved in.
"Right, be seeing you," Seifer said, attempting to swagger
and run at the same time towards the door.
When the door had slammed shut behind Seifer's retreating back, Squall
walked around the breakfast bar and squatted down on his haunches to survey
the pieces of his broken mug. Picking them up carefully to avoid being cut by
the sharp edges, he cradled the little bits of mug to his chest for a
brief moment, before pitching them casually into the trash can with a
shrug. Smiling to himself he sat down in front of the television and
pressed start on the game controller. Ever since he had gotten this
new game system he could never get rid of Seifer and Zell without a
scene, and he never got a turn unless they were gone.