You Make Me Sick
Sometimes he makes her so sick, she can't think straight. And sometimes he doesn't.
Olette really didn't like his laugh. It made her sick.
It was loud, boastful, and snide - and made her eyebrows crease just to hear it. It probably meant he was picking on someone again - and that someone was most likely Hayner. The boy was always getting into trouble with the so-called "Disciplinary Committee" and its overconfident leader with the arrogant laugh.
"Chicken wuss!" she heard him crow as she entered the Sandlot. "Stand up and fight. Or are you too much of a wimp?"
Seifer laughed again, and she cringed, rushing over to Hayner, who was panting on the ground, a Struggle bat clenched in his white fist. Seifer stood over him, taunting him, while his cronies Fuu and Rai watched from behind him - Rai cheering, Fuu quietly observing.
"Oh, look," Seifer sneered as Olette neared Hayner, "it's your girlfriend, Blondie. Doesn't it make you happy that she can see you in your true state - defeated?"
"Shut up!" Hayner snarled, stumbling to his feet. "She is NOT my girlfriend!"
He lunged for Seifer, the Struggle bat held high over his head, but was swiftly pushed back to the ground when Seifer kicked him in the stomach. Hayner groaned, rolling there, clutching his abdomen in pain. Olette had to admit, he really didn't look good - his lip was split and bleeding, and there was a yellowing bruise underneath one of his eyes.
"Hayner!" she called, jogging the last couple of feet until she was able to kneel beside him. "Hayner, are you okay?"
"I'll kill him," he growled, his breathing tight and constricted. "I'll kill the little bastard."
Seifer aimed a kick at Hayner. His foot connected with Hayner's side, and Olette's friend grunted in pain. "Watch your mouth, loser."
Olette glared up at Seifer, her green eyes heated. She got to her feet and stood between them, spreading her arms to cover Hayner from view as much as possible. "Stop it! He didn't do anything to you!"
Seifer laughed again, and looked down at the chick in orange. The girl had spirit, which amused him, though was bound to end up annoying him sooner or later. But, she was still a girl, so he wasn't about to hit her. "Yeah, he did, hate to burst your bubble."
Her eyes became unsure, and her arms lowered doubtfully. "What?"
"He existed, solely for the purpose of ticking me off."
Olette's eyes narrowed again. "That's not a good reason to beat someone up," she scolded, sounding very much like an angry mother. Seifer groaned, rolling his eyes at her tone.
"Please. Don't give me that goody-goody crap." He folded his arms, looking down at her again. "Hey, there's one of you lamers missing. Where's your chunky friend?"
"His name is Pence, and don't call him chunky!"
"Oh, sorry," he chuckled, "would you prefer tubby?"
"Ugh!" Disgusted, Olette whipped around and kneeled to the ground, extending a hand to Hayner. He ignored it, pushing himself to his own feet, taking a couple of shaky steps to establish his balance. He glared at Seifer around Olette, readying his Struggle bat again, slipping into a fighting stance. "Move, Olette. This idiot's about to go down."
"No," she pleaded, not moving aside. She placed a hand on his Struggle bat, gently moving it away. "That's enough for today, Hayner. Let's go home, okay?" She started steering him away. He grumbled, but made no move to stop her.
Seifer called something after them, but she didn't hear him - she was too busy trying to get Hayner home.
Later, Olette was passing through the Sandlot again, and was surprised when Seifer called her name.
"Hey, Olette!"
She glanced over by reflex, and partly because she was surprised he knew her name.
"Tell chicken wuss that if he comes near me again, he'll get his ass whooped!"
The normally kind-hearted Olette's fists clenched, and before she knew it she was stomping over to Seifer. There was something about the older boy that got her blood pressure up like nothing else; probably because he picked fights with Hayner so much…or, at least, retaliated strongly enough to hurt Hayner when Hayner picked the fight. She was sick of him beating up her blond friend, of picking on Pence, of just being an arrogant, insufferable jerk.
"Hey, Seifer!" He looked over at the sound of his name - he had been sharing a joke with Fuu and Rai - and arched an eyebrow when he saw the angry girl coming towards him.
"Shouldn't you be kissing Blondie's wounds, sweetie? Don't forget to give him the message from yours truly."
"Listen, Seifer." Olette stopped directly in front of him and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sick of you. I'm sick of the way you treat my friends, I'm sick of the way you treat me, I'm sick of your attitude, I'm sick of the way your little cronies hang onto your every word like it's the law or something. I'm sick of your high-and-mighty arrogance, I'm sick of the way you beat up Hayner all the time, I'm sick of the stupid things you call Pence! I am SO SICK of you that sometimes I feel like I'm going to puke! Why does anyone like you, anyway! You're so FULL OF IT, so full of hot air, and it's making me SICK!"
There was silence for a moment.
Olette slowly began to realize everything she had said, and she flushed, taking a step back. Seifer's expression had gotten darker and darker with every word she spoke - bewildered to incredulous to downright offended. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he crossed his arms. "I-I mean…that is…" She clenched her fists again, standing her ground, managing to blurt out, "Just leave us alone, okay?" before turning around to hurry away.
A strong hand clapped down on her shoulder, holding her there. "And where do you think you're going?"
"Let go!" Olette tried to take a step forward, but was jerked back and spun around to face Seifer. His expression was unreadable, and she faltered, unsure of what to do in this situation.
He's not going to try and…hurt me, is he?
"What?" he mocked at her feeble expression. "Cat got your tongue? You were talking pretty well a moment ago."
"Those were some mean things you said to Seifer, y'know," Rai complained over his leader's shoulder, while Fuu added, "Out of line."
Seifer laughed. "Yeah, you two got it. So what, little girl? Nothing else to say?"
"I'm not a little girl," Olette said firmly, trying to conceal her slight trembling. I'm okay, he won't do anything to me.
He grinned. "Really?" He let go of her shoulder and started circling her. She watched him as well as she could without actually moving her body. "You look pretty little to me. Too little to be picking on someone older and stronger than you."
Seifer stopped circling her and stopped in front again, crossing his arms at her. Olette was silent, and a little flushed - he was scaring her, which was probably his tactic. They were quiet for a moment, until he said unexpectedly:
"You got spirit. I like that."
She looked up at him with those wide, pretty green eyes, and for a moment Seifer was caught off guard. "Wh-what?" she stammered, taken by surprise.
"You're…different than the other two," he continued. "Not in a bad way…"
She continued to gaze at him, her brow furrowed cutely.
There was an awkward silence, and then he laughed, quickly brushing off the previous moment's weakness. "You really should be taking care of the blond loser, don't you think? Get lost, kid."
Olette backed off, thoroughly confused at what seemed to be Seifer's random mood swings. "Um," she stuttered. She blushed, then muttered a quiet "Thank you" before turning around and walking away, feeling sufficiently awkward.
"Olette!" he called again, and she paused, glancing back slightly. He hesitated, then went on, "You should come back here more often without those losers. That is, if it doesn't make you sick." He chuckled, and then he turned his back to her, a clear dismissal. She heard him strike up a conversation with Rai and Fuu - who both looked slightly confused, too.
Olette picked up the pace and hurried on, bewildered, telling herself that he was probably just making fun of her, trying to ignore the idea of her perhaps coming back…
It was a stupid idea, anyways. He terrified her.
Didn't he?
"Odd behavior," Fuu said randomly.
Seifer glanced at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
It was a little while later after the encounter with the chick in orange, and the three of them had been passing the time with meaningless chatter - all of which Seifer dictated, of course. There had been a moment of silence, and then Fuu popped up with her odd phrase.
"Yeah," Rai said. He shifted uneasily from one foot to another. "You were kinda odd around that Olette girl, y'know."
Seifer crossed his arms. "She's just…different from those other losers, that's all," he said defensively.
"Invitation?" Fuu questioned. Even in her stoic face, he could see the intrigue in her visible eye.
"Hey, I mean, if she hangs with us, she might even be less of a loser." Seifer held his palms up in his defense. "Trying to save her from a cruel fate, get it? Don't want her to end up with chicken wuss."
Fuu frowned. "With?"
"Don't ya mean 'like chicken wuss'?" Rai added, confused.
"Yeah, yeah, same difference." Their leader glanced between the two of them. "…You two tryin' to pick a fight or something?" His voice was not amused.
"No, just curious, y'know!" Rai clarified hastily. "We're sorry, Seifer."
"Yeah, you better be."
Rai and Fuu shared a quick, secretive glance, then the conversation moved on - but not before thoughts were incited in Seifer's mind. The idea of Olette getting any closer to that blond freak angered him slightly. He tried not to dwell too much on those feelings, instead pushed the conversation further, trying to ignore it when Olette's pretty green eyes blinked in his minds' eye…
Dammit.
A few days later, Olette found herself wandering alone through Market Street. She normally loved shopping, but today she was just put out…
Wasn't summer a time for hanging out with friends?
She supposed she really couldn't blame Hayner and Pence if they were busy - it was their parents that had dragged them out for the day, though she couldn't remember exactly where. That left Olette stuck with nothing to do, and nobody to do nothing with.
She blew out a long sigh, feeling a little lonely.
"You should come back here more often without those losers."
Her heart jumped slightly when the memory of those words filtered through her mind. Well…she supposed there was one place she could try.
Almost unconsciously, her feet traced the route to the Sandlot, the one she had taken so many times when Hayner was in a rage and wanted to take it out on someone, the one she had followed when she'd got a warning from Pence that Hayner was in trouble. She broke into a run as she got close to arriving there, and stopped right before she would turn the corner to get into Sandlot.
Well, here goes nothing…
She stepped into the Sandlot, and found…
…emptiness.
No one was here, either. Not Seifer and his stupid Disciplinary Committee.
"Oh, I should just go back home!" she cried out in frustration, scuffing the ground in disappointment. "No one's around anyways."
Then there was a voice very close to her ear.
"Why? Looking for someone?"
Olette jumped, clasping her hand over her heart, and whipped around so quickly her head started spinning. Seifer's arrogant grin loomed at her. "H-hey! That wasn't nice!"
"I'm not exactly a saint, in case you haven't noticed." He smirked. "Why? Did I frighten you?"
She flushed and narrowed her eyes slightly. "N-no, of course not."
"You lying to me?" Seifer arched an eyebrow.
Olette chose not to answer, and backed up some to put space between them.
"So…" he drawled. "Where're your lame friends?"
"Out," she said quietly, lacing her fingers together. "I got bored, so I…came here…"
"In the hopes that I would cure your boredom?" Seifer snorted. "Do I look like a servant to you?"
Olette found herself getting annoyed. "Fine, I'll get going then," she said shortly, starting to stride away.
Seifer froze for a moment, then growled under his breath. "Stupid," he hissed to himself, before hurrying after the brunette, keeping pace with her. Her face was stony, and she was determinedly not glancing at him. "Hey, you don't have to go yet," he said, doing his best not to sound desperate - the words came out coolly. "You just got here."
"Where are your friends?" she asked stiffly.
He shrugged. "Elsewhere." He knew for a fact, though, that Fuu and Rai were on a date, Rai having finally gotten the guts to ask the girl out. He had seen it coming a million miles away, and so had Fuu - she saw more things than most people - but she was waiting for him, to see if he'd actually get the backbone to be a man and do it himself. And he finally had.
Olette slowed down, and glanced at him finally. She looked slightly uncertain of herself, and she kept twisting her fingers together. He waited for her to say something, none too patient.
Finally, she spoke. "I…I think we got off on the wrong foot," she said finally. "I don't really know you, and you don't really know me…but since you're obviously making an effort to know me…can we start over?"
"Sure," he said easily, something fluttering around in the general area of his ribcage.
She faced him and stuck her hand out. "I'm Olette. And you are…?"
He grinned. "Seifer." He wrapped her hand in his own, noting how much smaller it was compared to his, and noticing at the same time how firm her grip was. That handshake basically described her personality - she may seem small and the sidekick sometimes, but she was very strong and brave.
Wow. That was getting a little deep for his taste.
Olette gave him a small smile as their hands dropped - the first one she'd given him - and it widened slightly when he gave a slight grin back. It wasn't completely devoid of his arrogance, but, well…
…it was a start.
"So, what do you want to do today?" she said, some of her normal cheerfulness coming back into her voice.
Seifer laughed slightly. "This is surreal. I'm hanging out with one of chicken wuss' friends."
Olette frowned. "Don't call him that."
He groaned, rolling his eyes. "Just for today," he grumbled.
She glanced at him, her eyebrows raised, but didn't argue.
It was bound to be an interesting day.
"And you come up here every night?"
"Yup! Isn't it great?" She sighed, her eyes drifting off into the sunset.
In all honesty, Seifer was having a hard time concentrating on the view of the town from the high station tower, because the view right next to him was too pretty to not enjoy. Instead, he focused on the stick of ice cream in his hands, and he scowled at the innocent light blue.
"And you eat ice cream every night, too?"
"Yeah." Olette nodded, and glanced at his ice cream. "Careful, it's melting!"
Seifer stuck it in his mouth, fully preparing to pull it out again and declare how disgusting it was…but it was actually quite refreshing. Not too salty, not too sweet… Once again, something else that reminded him of the remarkable brunette sitting next to him.
He snuck a peek at her. She licked her ice cream, completely content with the world; there was something sweet about the way that she was soaking up the evening, as if it was becoming the orange colors on her shirt, turning her into a miniature sun…
This poetic stuff was really throwing him off guard.
Seifer took the ice cream out of his mouth. "It's okay," he grudgingly admitted.
"You lying to me?" she teased him, using his own line on himself.
He grinned. "Of course not." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, completely going with instinct at this point.
Olette tensed up, a little anxious. He'd been nice enough all day - a little insufferable at times, but not too bad - but now she was a little nervous. He seemed to sense that, and they sat there in awkward silence for a moment.
Then Olette came to realize - it wasn't that bad, with his strong arm around her shoulders. She felt protected, she felt…safe.
"So…" Seifer glared down at his ice cream again, and Olette watched him curiously. "I, uh…I had a good day. You know. Hanging out."
She flushed very lightly, and let out a small giggle, smiling some. "Yeah…me too." And surprisingly enough, she had had a good day. They'd walked around through the streets, each getting less and less awkward as the hours passed, exchanging light banter. She found he was less of a jerk when he was by himself, and there was something a little insecure and…sweet in his personality. She remembered the way he'd tugged her hand so they could jump on the tram together - that was thrilling. Seifer really wasn't that bad, and his arrogance had let up some so they could have real conversations.
He smirked. "More fun than when you hang out with your loser friends?"
She narrowed her eyes at him and tried to scoot away. "They're not losers. Don't be a jerk."
He pulled her in again. "Sorry," he said quickly. "Force of habit."
"Yeah," she chided him gently, "a bad habit." She tweaked his nose lightly. She hesitated, then spoke again. "You're different when I'm talking to you like this - outside of your little gang."
Seifer stiffened. "Different? Different how?"
Olette thought about it for a moment, her face scrunched up in thought. "Good different," she decided. "You're…nicer, somehow."
"Yeah, but I'm still no sissy," he reminded her.
"Being nice doesn't mean you're a sissy," she reprimanded him. "Am I a sissy, then?"
"Kinda," he said with a grin.
She huffed, offended.
"Hey, don't be that way. It's not a bad thing…coming from you. 'sides, you're a lot less of a sissy than…uh, than some other kids I know."
She glared at him for a moment. He cringed slightly, then blew a relieved sigh when she backed off. He didn't want Olette angry with him. He'd really had a good day.
He shifted his weight as they sat in silence for a moment. "Olette…"
"Yes, Seifer?"
…He really, really liked it when she said his name.
Seifer paused to collect his thought, which had suddenly gotten lost when she'd spoken. She glanced at him, her green eyes curious, and he had to look away to compose himself. Eventually, he found his voice again.
"Do…do you think we could…"
Olette's pulse quickened. "Yes…?"
"…do this again sometime?"
She relaxed slightly, not sure how that made her feel. Yes, it made her feel happy, but there was some random part of her that was disappointed… She didn't know why. What else would he have said, would she have expected him to say?
Seifer added quickly, "If I still don't make you sick, that is."
A laugh bubbled up from inside her, and a smile melted onto her face. "You do still make me sick…sometimes."
He tried not to look downcast or upset by that remark.
"But…" She leaned her head down on his chest. "Yeah, I'd say we can do this again sometime."
Seifer smiled - a true smile for once - and held her there, triumphant. He had won this time…he was sure he had one-upped Hayner. It was easy to see that the wuss was head-over-heels for the girl, and he'd never quite understood that - until now.
Oh yes, their next encounter would be…fun, to say the least.
"Cool."
The two of them sat like that for a while, watching the sun frozen in twilight, completely content with each other. Olette liked this different Seifer, and Seifer liked the idea of maybe getting closer to Olette.
But, for the moment, they were content.
And the next time Seifer laughed, Olette didn't find it quite as sickening.
A/N: Haha, what a random pairing :) But I really liked writing this. It was fun. It might be a little OOC - I've never played FFVIII, so I was going off of Seifer's character in the game, and for both Olette and Seifer, they didn't have a whole lot of screen time so I didn't have a ton to go off of - but I did my best to keep them in character.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
Also, I don't own anything in this oneshot. Nothing at all.